Yuuko Ichihara's Hitsuzen: Four Star Restaurant and Bar
by names are hard guys
Summary: It started when "that guy" started coming to the restaurant and requesting Watanuki's cooking, and it only got worse from there! Now, Doumeki's a server at the Hitsuzen, and Watanuki can't avoid the guy. Then, he goes and asks him out. Well, what was he supposed to do now? aka the Restaurant AU where everything is happy, dammit! (cowritten with Arisprite)
1. Chapter 1: Confession

Finally we're posting the restaurant AU! This is a joint effort between myself and arisprite. I generally take Watanuki and she is in charge of Doumeki and we put them in a restaurant and bam here we go!

* * *

It was after closing and Watanuki was pouring all the day's frustrations into cleaning the restaurant kitchen. Then again, it really wasn't the day's frustrations. The day, the week, the month, the four years he'd spent working at Yuuko's damn restaurant…

And then there was that guy.

The guy whose goal it was to ruin his life, he was pretty sure. What with him being there and doing things and then not doing things and just generally being invasive and disruptive and inconsiderate towards Watanuki's life.

Yes, ever since the day Doumeki first came to the restaurant, Watanuki's life had just gotten steadily more terrible. He'd just come as a customer, but apparently the food was too good and he just kept coming back, and hey, fine, yes, Watanuki was a good cook, but there came a point, you know? May as well have been a stalker! And then they were introduced and Watanuki just hated him more and then Yuuko - that damn Yuuko! - had to go and give him a job! So now he saw him every day and everyone was so adamant that they were good friends and they should date and god it was annoying because the guy was just awful!

Then again…

Doumeki did drive him home sometimes, when it was raining or that week or so that Watanuki had twisted his ankle or just if they got off at the same time and it was late. And he liked Watanuki's cooking, so obviously he had good taste, though maybe too much of it. And he was nice to Himawari and he was efficient at his job.

But he was still terrible. With his stupid face. And his stupid hair. And his stupid apron that he'd stained on his first day and never bothered to wash out properly, like a complete dumbass.

God, why was this guy constantly on his mind?

Watanuki paused in his cleaning and snuck a peek at the guy through the kitchen door, and found that Doumeki was looking right at him. The pots he'd been holding clanged to the floor as Watanuki screeched and turned around quickly, throwing his hands in the air.

He collected the pots quickly, and dumped them back in the sink. He'd come in early and wash them tomorrow. His shoes squeaked on the tile floor as he ran as fast as he could out the back door of the kitchen.

Great. Doumeki had caught Watanuki looking at him and now it looked like Watanuki might possibly be interested and Watanuki was definitely not interested!

So he resolved to be off quickly, but as he stared at his bike lock, he realized he'd forgotten his bag inside.

Suddenly, there was a sound from behind him. The door opening and closing.

Dammit.

Watanuki turned around with a scowl. Doumeki was standing there, holding both his and Watanuki's bags. He tossed Watanuki's to him - which was rude! What if he'd had something important in there? - and Watanuki caught it, fumbling.

"Why didn't you just come back and get it?" Doumeki asked, as Watanuki struggled with the pocket, trying to find his keys.

There was literally no excuse for it. What, was he going to pick the lock? No, he had no idea how to do that. Did he think he had the bag with him? No, obviously not. There was nothing to be said except-

"I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO SEE YOUR STUPID FACE AGAIN!" he yelled, looking up from the bag he was searching furiously.

"Hm," was all Doumeki said as he put his hands in his pockets.

Watanuki found his keys finally, and pulled them out triumphantly, just in time to hear Doumeki's next words.

"Do you want to do something on Friday night?"

Watanuki dropped his bag and stumbled on words.

"I- uh- wh-"

In fact, he stumbled so badly, he couldn't even say them. How do you react to someone you hate and yell at regularly just, just asking you out!

Wait. The guy never said what for! He might have asked him out, yeah, but… he also could be asking… something else. Watanuki didn't know what, but, but why did he immediately jump to a date?

"I like you," Doumeki told him, and Watanuki hoped, prayed, he wasn't blushing.

Blushing? Why would he be blushing?!

"I thought we could do something together," Doumeki continued. "You don't have to."

Watanuki swallowed, not sure what to say to that.

"Friday," Watanuki said slowly, "is my day off."

Dammit dammit dammit now he'd just admitted he was free, not that that mattered, what with the schedules being posted publicly. And now that Doumeki knew Watanuki had the day off and nothing to do, Watanuki had to agree.

That bastard.

Doumeki tilted his head, and there was silence for a long moment before he spoke again.

"I'll pick you up at seven."

ooooooooo

"You don't even know where I - oh wait, yeah, you drive me home."

Watanuki was flustered, red faced in the dim light from the restaurant, and stumbling over his words. It was rather adorable. It had occurred to Doumeki, just minutes before, while he was finishing up the chores for the kitchen and getting ready to go home, and Doumeki had been casually watching as Watanuki did the same, that he'd really like to ask him out.

It was a little unexpected. Yes, he liked the food he cooked, and it was always fun to torment him a little between tickets, and he'd taken up the habit of driving him home occasionally when they both closed at the same time...but did that really mean he wanted to date him?

Then, Doumeki had thought how there had been and was no one else he'd just wanted to sit and watch, no one else he paid attention to. His roommates, his friends in the classes in his major, the other servers and people at work...they were passing faces, which he noticed, but didn't devote much energy to. Watanuki was different. He'd work all day to make Watanuki yell, or smile (much more rarely). And, as Watanuki's quick hands wiped down the stove, and Doumeki watched as his apron flipped around his hips, and his sharp voice called out to people in the kitchen to do various things as they were closing… Doumeki had had the thought that he'd better ask him, or someone else would.

So, he did. And Watanuki had...accepted? It seemed like it, anyway.

Watanuki, still blushing, turned around and unlocked his bike. Speaking of…

"Do you want a ride now?" Doumeki asked. It was dark out now, and though Watanuki rode back to his apartment just fine when Doumeki didn't drive, he thought it might be rude to not offer a ride home to a guy he'd literally just asked out on a date.

Watanuki popped his head up, and faced Doumeki, looking uncertain.

"Ahhhh…" he hesitated, and then seemed to come to a decision. "God, fine," he said, grabbing the padlock and chain and shoving it into his bag. "I don't know where my helmet is anyways."

He grabbed his bike, and rolled it off, and Doumeki smirked, and bent to pick up the helmet that had been sitting just under the bike rack.

"Well? Are you coming?" Watanuki yelled. "I can't unlock your damn car!"

Doumeki clicked the little button on his keyring, and ambled over with the helmet under his arm. Watanuki shoved the bike into the backseat, in a complicated angle that he'd figured out a while back when he'd started driving him, and then cleared Doumeki's schoolwork off the front seat and sticking it under the bike in the back. It was all habitual by now, down to the scowl as he fumbled with the twisted seat belt.

Doumeki got into the driver's seat, and plopped the helmet onto Watanuki's lap, before starting the car.

"I would have found it without your help," Watanuki insisted, tossing the helmet into the backseat on top of the bike and Doumeki's homework.

The radio came on, whatever he'd been listening to before, something nondescript, and he waited to see what station Watanuki would pick tonight. He always found some fault or another in whatever Doumeki had playing (even if he left it to whatever Watanuki had picked the night before) and twisted the knob until he found something to his satisfaction. He'd heard all sorts of music; from classical symphonies, to rap, to old rock. Watanuki had spent one ride home even paused on a country music station with his finger hovering over the dial waiting to change it, but intrigued enough by the music to stay. It was always funny to watch, and Doumeki didn't mind the different music each night. It was like a little glimpse into Watanuki's brain, his likes and dislikes, and what interested him.

Tonight, he let the station play, though, and was looking out the window looking… well, he kind of always looked upset and grumpy. Unless he was cooking. Which, come to think of it, he was kind of hungry. He hadn't eaten before his shift, and that was hours ago. He turned at the next intersection, and made a square to come around to the 24 hour grocery store, pulling into the parking lot before Watanuki realized.

"Why are we at a grocery story?" Watanuki asked, frowning. "Oh god, I swear, if you expect me to cook for you tonight, I'm, I'm-" he paused, and then continued without Doumeki having to argue further. "Don't you dare request anything ridiculous."

Rather amused at how little work that was, as he hadn't even been trying to get a free dinner, but he was definitely not complaining, Doumeki agreed and they both got out of the car. In the store, Doumeki followed Watanuki along the aisles, pushing the small cart as Watanuki went ahead, choosing items and dropping them into the basket.

"You should make lasagna," he said, deliberately choosing something complicated and delicious, in the hopes that Watanuki would either take it as a challenge and make it now, or he'd at least remember and make it in the near future.

"I said nothing ridiculous!" Watanuki snapped. "Besides, do you really want to wait that long before you can eat? No! No, I thought not! You're eating something simple! Like spaghetti. Or a, a frozen pizza."

Doumeki wrinkled his nose. He had frozen pizzas at his house, growing freeze burn. Watanuki saw the reaction, and threw his hands into the air.

"Thought so! No more requests! Anything I deign to make you, you will eat!" he declared. The fact was quite true. Doumeki nodded though, and pushed the cart along demurely, while Watanuki picked out enough groceries to make both spaghetti and lasagna. Doumeki privately hoped he'd be invited over when that was prepared as well, since it had been his idea. When they reached the checkout stand, Doumeki paid quickly, before Watanuki could stop him, though he tried.

"No! No no no, they're my groceries, I can - augh." Watanuki covered his face with his hands, apparently overcome with Doumeki's kindness at purchasing the food. Or more likely frustrated beyond speech. Doumeki wanted to laugh, but he only smirked as he took the bags out of the store and to the car. Watanuki followed along behind him, grumbling about cooking this late, and this and that. It wasn't even late, it was barely ten, since the restaurant wasn't open so late on weekdays. Doumeki didn't see a problem with a late dinner.

He put the groceries on top of the homework he was supposed to do tomorrow morning before class. He'd probably be too tired to do his usual quality of work on it, if he stayed up much later than this, but he couldn't bring himself to care that much.

"I'm just making this, and then you're gone!" Watanuki yelled as they drove back to his apartment. "Then again… I do have leftover cupcakes from that party I ended up not being able to go to… and I'm starting to hate them…"

He looked up at Doumeki. Doumeki liked food. Doumeki could get rid of them.

"You go to school, right?" he asked, knowing the answer. "Do you have homework?" Though that last bit came out more as an accusation than an actual question.

Doumeki looked into the back seat quickly, then looked back at the road, thank god.

"I'm going to do it tomorrow," he said.

"You have morning class!" Watanuki reminded him - he only knew because someone else had mentioned it, it's not like he was actively paying attention to it or anything! "You were going to do that in the morning? What time were you going to get up, huh? No. No, bring it. I will not allow your gluttony to be your academic downfall!"

Doumeki sighed as they pulled into the parking lot. Watanuki considered telling him that his unit had a designated parking space, but Doumeki had won enough today.

"Fine," Doumeki agreed as then parked.

Watanuki fumbled with the seatbelt again, and exited the car quickly, grabbing his helmet and the two bags of groceries, ignoring the bike for now.

"I'll get that later," he said pointedly, and quickly ran to his apartment, as it occurred to him that he couldn't remember if he'd tidied up before he left for work. He generally did, of course, but what if he'd forgotten?

So what? So what if he forgot! It was just Doumeki.

But really, what if he forgot?

He dropped the helmet as he unlocked and opened the door, kicking it inside and hanging onto the groceries instead, then inspected the damage.

Of which there was minimal. A bunch of glass bottles piled on his counter and he'd left the TV remote and a dvd in the middle of the floor next to a pillow, but that was it. Oh, thank god. Doumeki hadn't ever been in Watanuki's apartment before, not that Watanuki was trying to make a good impression - quite the contrary.

Wait.

Doumeki hadn't been in his apartment before.

That bastard, he planned this.

ooooooooo

Watanuki's apartment was generic for the most part. Blank walls, furniture that had probably come with the place, and clean enough to hide most of his personally. Doumeki wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, and so didn't know if this was a surprising fact, or not. If he'd come in to see impeccable and stylish decor, or a complete pigsty, he really didn't think he'd have been surprised either way. There was a slight clutter on the counter, mail stacked on the table, and a Star Wars dvd was on the floor out of place.

Doumeki came further in, and over to the kitchen table, putting his pile of homework down, and watched as Watanuki began to put away the groceries he wasn't going to use tonight. Then, he got out a cutting board, a knife and a pan, and these items were full of personality, at least that they didn't look like they'd come with the apartment. They were, from what he could tell, higher end cookware, which only made sense, he supposed.

Doumeki came over and leaned on the end of the standing counter, while Watanuki began cutting up tomatoes. Doumeki watched him a for a second, and then picked up one of the soda bottles.

"Do you drink enough of these?"

Watanuki looked up, face curious and then morphing into angry.

"Oh, what, like you don't have a drink of preference?" he snapped, turning back to the cutting board. "It's not that weird to have soda bottles around, god, what is wrong with you?"

He pushed the tomatoes he'd cut aside, and then peeled a couple cloves of garlic. Doumeki's stomach started to growl. It looked like Watanuki's spaghetti still wasn't as 'simple' as he'd claimed.

Drinkwise, "I like lemonade," he said, as Watanuki tossed the tomatoes, garlic and freshly cut onions into the pan and let them begin to simmer. It was different than the recipe at the restaurant, and as the smells began to rise up, Doumeki came closer to the stove and leaned in to appreciate it.

"Don't hover over me!" Watanuki yelled, waving him away. "I'm trying to cook. You won't get any if you can't let me just do my job! And, and I think I have some drink mix somewhere for lemonade…" He trailed off, his voice pondering. He was up and down, for sure, but Doumeki was beginning to think it was endearing.

Doumeki stepped back, going over to the cupboard where Watanuki had put some of the groceries, he rummaged through it, moving boxes of seasonings, and cans of beans and tuna fish. There was a container of the cheap store brand lemonade, and Doumeki pulled it out and read the back. There were chemicals in there that even he didn't recognize. He made a face and stuck it back in the cupboard. Then he turned around, and watched Watanuki put the noodles into the boiling water.  
"Didn't you say you had cupcakes leftover?"

"What is your problem?" Watanuki was looking over, angry again. "Just going through other people's stuff! That's rude! You can't just-" his voice abruptly dropped, probably remembering the neighbors. " -you can't just dig through other people's cupboards. Didn't anyone ever teach you any manners?"

"Sorry," Doumeki said. Watanuki looked a smidge too strained, so Doumeki decided to stop antagonizing him, and moved to sit at the table. He did have homework, after all. Watanuki seemed startled though, like he was expecting their spat to keep going.

"Wait, what?" he sputtered, and then straightened up. "Well...good."

He put the lid on the pot of water, and then grabbed a covered plate, and set it in front of Doumeki, next to his homework, taking the cover off. It was the cupcakes, with yellow cake and white frosting.

"They're lemon," Watanuki said.

Doumeki picked one off the plate, and munched on it while he opened his text book. It was really good. The frosting had little lemon peel bits in it, and the cake was still fluffy, even though Watanuki had said they were old.

The homework he had to do was annoying, but time consuming, so Doumeki sighed, and licked the crumbs from his lips while he set himself to paying attention. It was for chemistry, equations he'd understood in class, and now had to repeat again and again.

Watanuki had gotten distracted, looked like, and was now leaning over his shoulder.

"Organic chemistry?" he asked. "I hated chemistry."

Doumeki finished off a problem and moved on to the next one.

"I'm a chem minor. I have to do a lot of this."

Watanuki's eyebrows went up behind his glasses.

"Wow, wait, really?" He sounded impressed. Doumeki filed that away, and answered blandly.

"Yeah."

Watanuki frowned, and leaned against the counter, staring at Doumeki's homework like he had to do it. Then, he moved back suddenly, and over to the fridge.

"Do you want a soda? Seeing as my lemonade mix was so below your standards," he asked, rummaging in the fridge.

"That wasn't real lemonade. And sure," Doumeki said, not looking up but putting his hand out for a bottle.

"You have no manners, I hope you know that," Watanuki grumbled. "Grapefruit okay?"

Grapefruit soda sounded… interesting. But, sure, if Watanuki liked it.

"Yeah," he said, taking the bottle and twisting off the top. It smelled okay, so he took a sip. It was all natural, more carbonated juice than soda, but tasty… he could see why Watanuki liked it.

The food was nearly done, and smelled amazing, and so was Doumeki's homework, so he buckled down to finish it before Watanuki drained the noodles. He dished it out as Doumeki worked, and then he looked up when Watanuki dropped the bowl in front of him. God, that looked good. This would be an upside to getting to know this guy better, he could tell already.

"Here. Thank me. Bow down. Sing my praises," he said, holding his own bowl, and going around the counter to sit on a stool. Doumeki finished his last equation with a flourish, and set the pencil down to pick up the fork. He tried it; the spaghetti noodles were the perfect consistency, but the sauce was the highlight - flavorful and chunky.

"Why don't you cook this at the restaurant?" he asked, through a mouthful.

Watanuki paused in his chewing, and looked back at the stove.

"I do, don't I? I make spaghetti all the time…" he took another bite of food, and thought. "But, I usually go for a generic recipe at the restaurant. If I'm cooking just for me, I don't really think about it like that."

Doumeki looked at the bowl, almost half done already.

"It's better this way," Doumeki decided, taking another bite.

ooooooooo

Watanuki hoped and prayed he wasn't blushing as he shoved another bite of the spaghetti into his mouth, then chewed and swallowed quickly.

"Well then. I. That. That wasn't a bow, but I'll take it," he managed to get out. God, this guy was terrible.

There was a moment of silence that lasted too long for Watanuki's sake, so he spoke up.

"Why are you even here?" he demanded.

"You invited me in," Doumeki said, making it sound like he was some sort of vampire or something and-

"I did not! I did not invite you in! You're the one who forced me to make you dinner and bring you up here!

He thought back on it.

Wait. Wait, did he?

Of course! Doumeki drove to the grocery store, so obviously…

Well, that technically could have meant a lot of things. Oh.

Doumeki smirked like the bastard he was. "What if I'd just needed eggs?"

"Well, obviously you didn't or you would have bought some!"

"But I could have. You decided to make dinner."

"No!" Watanuki protested. "You suggested dinner!"

"I did not," Doumeki said, finishing up his spaghetti. "You brought it up. Not that I'm upset about that."

"Making dinner for you at eleven at night was most certainly not my idea!" Watanuki yelled back, though thinking about it… Doumeki was right. Hehad brought it up. It wasn't…

He was voluntarily making dinner for this asshole.

How did Doumeki do that?

Doumeki shook his head and looked amused, then set his bowl aside

Watanuki finished his bowl in another bite, then went around the counter again to dump it in the sink, grabbing Doumeki's bowl on the way over.

"Next time, dinner is on you!" he blurted out, realizing the connotations a moment too late.

"What do you want to do on Friday?" Doumeki asked.

Oh, that's right. Friday. Oh god.

Watanuki grabbed some tupperware and began scraping the leftovers into it, not looking at Doumeki as he spoke.

"I'm not picky," he said awkwardly. "You're the picky one."

Doumeki sniffed and put his chin in his hand - who does that?

"What do you think about bowling?"

What, did the guy google search first date ideas?

Not a date! Not a date!

"I haven't been in years," Watanuki offered. "We could go bowling." It was a highly un-romantic atmosphere and there was a lot of general competitiveness… It wasn't the worst idea.

"I know a place with good pretzels," Doumeki said.

"Really?" Watanuki rummaged through his cupboard and grabbed a bag of marshmallows. "They'd better be good, or I'm blaming you," he added, popping one into his mouth.

"Marshmallows? You like those?"

Watanuki looked down at his bag, then back up at Doumeki, confused. "Yes. They're my favorite. You have a problem with that? I can eat whatever snack I like, it's my apartment, you know."

"Marshmallows are good on s'mores," Doumeki said, as if reciting a fact from an encyclopedia.

"They're also good to eat," Watanuki informed him, grabbing another and tossing it in his mouth. "Now that we're done pointing out the obvious." He rolled his eyes and sat at the counter again.

Doumeki put his hand out to catch one, and Watanuki scowled at him. First he demands (implies) dinner and now he was demanding marshmallows. Honestly, Watanuki didn't understand how other people didn't find this guy obnoxious and intrusive.

But Doumeki had bought the groceries, so…

Watanuki threw a marshmallow at Doumeki.

"If you hate it, you can get out of my kitchen."

Doumeki caught it and took a bite. He chewed it impassively and shrugged.

"It's not bad, but it's not good either," he decided.

Watanuki shrugged as well. Some people just didn't appreciate them.

"Chemistry," he said suddenly, realizing he really didn't know this guy very well, for all that they worked together and he drove him home sometimes. "You're studying chemistry."

Doumeki turned to him and blinked. "Yeah."

"As a minor."

"Yeah," he repeated. So eloquent, this guy.

"What's your major then?"

"History."

"Oh. That's a weird combination," Watanuki decided, eating a third marshmallow.

"It's interesting," Doumeki said, opening his hand for another marshmallow.

"You didn't even like them! Don't ask for something you don't like - eat a cupcake!" Watanuki told him with a frown.

"They grow on you," Doumeki protested. "I want one."

Watanuki threw it at him.

"Whatever."

Doumeki caught it and ate it quickly.

"God, you're annoying," Watanuki said, then grabbed another marshmallow and twisted the bag closed. "And you're here way too late. I had other plans you know!"

"What were you going to do?" asked Doumeki.

Watanuki tossed the bag into his cupboard and groaned.

"What does it matter to you, hm?" he asked. "If you must know, I was going to finish the movie I was watching, but noooo you had to eat dinner - shut it! I know you didn't say it but you implied heavily! - so I have to finish it tomorrow. So, now that you've imposed yourself into my evening more than you were supposed to and eaten my food and drank my soda, are you happy?"

Doumeki's lip quirked - was that a frown or a smile or what? - and gathered his papers and books into his arms, then stood.

Wait, what?

"Oh."

No, no, Watanuki was not upset about the leaving company. He was just surprised that Doumeki would clear out that easily.

"Go home, dumbass," he said, scowling and waving his hand in the general direction of the door.

"See you tomorrow," Doumeki said, catching his eye.

Watanuki just glared back at him.


	2. Chapter 2: An Official Date

Chapter 2: An Official Date (no matter how much Watanuki would like to say otherwise)

Again, this fic was cowritten with the lovely arisprite! Be sure to check her stuff out too!

* * *

Watanuki definitely did not worry about what clothes he was wearing and did not make sure his apartment was clean and finally get rid of his accumulating bottle collection and did not make an attempt to fix his hair and most of all, he did not check his phone for the time and panic about what the hell they were supposed to do tonight.

No, no, he did none of those things.

And if he did, it was just because… he was annoyed that his evening off work would be ruined by this guy!

But once everything was clean and his appearance was decent enough, not that that mattered, it was too close to seven to do anything else, but too far away to sit there and do nothing.

So he sat there and did nothing. Well, he played a game on his phone. As best he could with the touch-screen messed up and the screen going black every minute or so.

Dammit, why was Doumeki taking so long? He should've spent longer getting ready. Or just gotten ready later. Not that he needed or wanted to "get ready" or anything, because that would imply that he cared and he did not care about what Doumeki thought about him or his appearance or his clothes or-

Actually, this shirt wasn't doing it for him. He didn't love it. Not that he was trying to look nice, it was just long-sleeved and they'd be bowling inside so it would be hot so he may as well put on short sleeves or something right? And if that short sleeved shirt was a better color and better fit, well, that was coincidence.

So Watanuki ran back to his room to change when he heard a knock on the door.

Watanuki changed quickly as he ran out to get the door.

"You're early," he said with a frown when he saw Doumeki standing there looking…

Looking like Doumeki, how else would he look?

Doumeki pointed at the clock in his apartment that said 7:00 exactly.

"I'm right on time," he said.

"That clock is fast," Watanuki huffed. Only by a minute, but close enough. "Let's go."

He pushed up his glasses and began walking out the door, flipping the lights off as he left.

The car ride was awkward and stupid and the radio kept playing love songs so Watanuki spent most of the time switching the station until he found some something in a different language. Apparently one of the local colleges had decided to do a world music station. Watanuki saved it to one of the buttons on Doumeki's radio to find more easily later, not really caring what else he'd had saved there.

It was mostly quiet for the few minutes of the car ride, aside from the small bit of stinted conversation, and Watanuki was glad when they finally reached the bowling alley, though Doumeki parked far away from the entrance. It looked busy, sure, but as they walked, Watanuki found multiple empty parking spaces they could have chosen from. He refrained from pointing them out though. Besides, it really did look like there were a lot of people.

"Looks busy," he said instead, frowning. "If there isn't an open lane, I'm not waiting around for more than ten minutes."

"I reserved a lane," Doumeki said.

God, he really had planned this out.

But it turned out inside, most of the people were either ghosts or in the parking lot for the surrounding businesses, because the alley was actually really quiet. Unintelligible electronic rock was playing from the speakers, and the place smelled like shoes and popcorn. A few lanes were taken, but not many.

Which meant there were barely any people to see them, and the atmosphere was beyond unromantic, there was no way this could be seen as a date!

They got to the register where some teenager manned the station, barely paying attention, not that Watanuki could blame him.

"Two?" he asked as they approached, tapping on the screen in front of him.

Doumeki nodded, and the guy tapped on the keyboard a few more times.

"Alright, that's fifteen even."

Watanuki scrambled for his wallet as Doumeki quickly stepped in front of him to pay, thus missing the opportunity to split the cost or something and now it was officially a date.

Great.

oooooooooooooooo

Doumeki led the way to the lane he'd reserved, his feet rubbing in strange shoes. Watanuki scrambled after him, his face grumpy after he paid, and after he got his shoes, and after he put them on… he supposed Watanuki's face was always grumpy, but it still made him feel awkward. He was beginning to feel like this wasn't such a good idea.

Watanuki followed him over, seating himself in the chair in front of the computer, tapping at the keys.

"You're going first," he decided, entering in his name. "D-O-U-M-E-K-I, right? Wait, isn't that your last name? What's your first name?"

Watanuki spelled his name right on the first try, surprising that, but he supposed with a name like Watanuki, he was used to traditional Japanese spelling.

"It's Shizuka," he said. Watanuki's was Kimihiro, he knew from the printed out chore card at the restaurant. They were the only employees who went by their last names.

"Shizuka," he repeated. "And here I thought Doumeki was a stupid name." Watanuki said, snobbishly.

Doumeki rolled his eyes, and moved to pick a ball. A green swirly one caught his eye, and the weight was right, so he grabbed it and stood in place, eying the pins. He swung and took a pretty good shot, hitting a good chunk of them down. He had been bowling a fair number of times, mostly dragged along by his cousins Noah and Kana, and the others during his teenage years. He wasn't terrible, but he wasn't great either, but he was sure that regardless of their skill levels, Watanuki would turn it into a competition anyway.

He finished up his turn, and went and sat down across from Watanuki as the pins reset.

"Your turn," he said, watching his score pop up on screen. A spare. Watanuki looked displeased.

"Fine," he snapped, standing up and grabbing the bowling ball. He did okay, knocking over three pins on his first roll, and three more on his second. He sat back down, huffing and upset, before turning to his and shouting.

"Oh, what, you're not gonna rub it in my face? What do you expect, I haven't been bowling in years! I'm just warming up! Give me a game, and then I'll beat you!"

Doumeki inwardly smirked. There was the competitiveness he'd expected. Doumeki really wasn't that good, and Watanuki had good form. Once he warmed up, he probably would beat him.

Doumeki leaned back in the hard plastic seat, and felt his stomach growl a little. He hadn't eaten dinner before this (he wasn't hungry, and it was probably because he was nervous, but he didn't really want to admit that to himself) and now that he was relaxing, he was working up a bit of an appetite.

"Do you want a pretzel?" he asked, since he'd mentioned them before, and he couldn't work himself up to finding a restaurant that would meet with his approval for an actual dinner.

Watanuki looked thoughtful for a second, standing as his score pinged on the screen.

"I forgot dinner. Let's order a pizza. I'll order a pizza," he said, specifying. "And pretzels. I'll get those too. It's your turn."

He ran a few steps away, and then returned. "Wait, what kind of pizza?"

Doumeki frowned. "You want to get pizza at a bowling alley? You're a chef."

Watanuki frowned back at him. "And? What you think I'm snobbish or something? Wow."  
There was a look of genuine offense on his face, and Doumeki watched as Watanuki turned his back to go get the pizza. Doumeki got up before he walked off, leaving the computer screen blinking on his next turn.

"I don't mind pepperoni," he said, slightly more apologetic than he'd do for most anyone. He hadn't mean to upset him, but it seemed like he'd been doing that a lot this evening. This wasn't going well, he thought. Or at least not as he might have expected, had he thought to define what that was.

"Mm," Watanuki agreed, something tense loosening. "I'll get that then, would you go take your turn? I don't want you sneaking around and paying again!"

Doumeki watched Watanuki walk off towards the food counter. Then he turned around and took his turn (with a much worse score this time) and then sat with his thoughts. His cousins growing up had nagged him about all the things that dates should involve: paying, planning, etc. And the dates that he'd gone on, or been set up on, had followed that pattern. But, Watanuki wasn't some generic person. He was Watanuki, and all these set ideas weren't making him happy in the least. Maybe he should just ease up, and see how Watanuki wanted this to go?

Watanuki returned with pretzels and crowed about his bad score. "So your first roll was lucky. I knew it. You can't bowl at all! By the end of this game, you'll be begging for me to teach you!"

Doumeki took the offered pretzel, resolving to try to be more relaxed, and took a bite.

"I didn't have very good teachers," he said, through a mouthful of salty bread. It was true. He'd learned from Noah, who was his age, during the one summer they'd decided to get better at it. Neither of them knew how to bowl, though, so they'd kind of fumbled around and taught each other.

Watanuki took a bite of his own pretzel, and rolled his eyes. "Don't offer me excuses, you're just terrible!" he said, setting the food aside, and taking his turn: six pins first roll, nine pins total. Watanuki looked disappointed at how close that turn was.

Doumeki's next turn was better, and by the time the pizza was brought over by a bored looking employee, they were neck and neck on the scoreboard. Before his turn, he wandered over and tried the pepperoni. It wasn't bad actually, and he took his turn while chewing it.

Watanuki went, and then he sat down and looked at Doumeki, who was taking another bite.

"You're a food snob, aren't you?"

Doumeki chewed the pizza and thought about it. "Yes," he decided. He definitely was. He'd been picky as a child, and when he was a little older, his grandfather had instilled in him his love of high quality food. Haruka had taken him to business dinners and meetings in high class restaurants, and encouraged him to try a lot of different things.

"You just like me for my cooking, don't you?" he asked, eyes narrowed. Doumeki thought he was kidding around, but he wasn't completely sure. Doumeki decided to consider the question seriously. Yes, the cooking had certainly been the first thing that had drawn him in. It's what got him coming to the restaurant in the first place, back before he had the job at all. Back in October, he'd come by happenstance with a study group, and then ordered without real hope that it would be anything more than sustenance. That first order had been amazing, so much so that he'd come back that night for dinner. This time, he ordered something else, just to try and had not been disappointed. Figuring it was the same cook as that afternoon, he flagged down the server, Himawari, and found out it was Watanuki.

After that, he'd come as often as he could, and always passed along his compliments to the chef, until he met him in person. His interest grew, and Yuuko found out about his 'crush' and offered him a much needed job. He wasn't quite sure why he'd asked him out, but he knew that there were things he liked about him, other than the cooking.

"You're interesting," Doumeki said, leaning his elbow on the seat, and looking at Watanuki, who was still waiting for an answer to his question. "You never do what I expect. You're fun to argue with. And you cook well."

Watanuki blinked a few times, surprise at that question being taken seriously, he supposed, and then he blushed. It was...really cute, actually. "Well, you're no fun at all, and probably can't cook to save your life, and, and, and it's your turn, dumbass!" he yelled, gesturing intensely at the lane, and then spinning around in his chair dramatically.

Doumeki smirked, liking that reaction, and then got up to saunter over to the rack to pick up his ball. Their scores were very close together, though Watanuki was slightly ahead. Doumeki was feeling confident, however, so he concentrated and then made his roll. Every single pin fell to the ground. Doumeki smiled a little wider.

Watanuki looked displeased. "You know what? Your form is terrible," he said, as Doumeki returned to the seats. He stood up in a huff, and stomped over to grab his bowling ball, scowling all the while. He took his stance, and rolled, and the ball flew straight where he sent it.

"AH HA! See that? That is how you bowl! Go ahead and be impressed!" he yelled, while the screen flashed STRIKE. He fell into his seat, loose confidence in his limbs.

Doumeki stood for his turn, impressed and amused at Watanuki's form and competition.

"You actually have pretty good form," he said to Watanuki, as he picked up his ball. "Whoever taught you must have been good."

Watanuki answered peevishly. "How would you know, hm?" Doumeki shrugged, and turned towards the lane, before he glanced back. Watanuki was looking off to the side, pouting a little before he relented and answered the question after all. "It was my dad. He's good at bowling. I haven't been in years though, so I didn't know if I would remember." His voice got a little thoughtful, and Doumeki found he liked the quieter tone. He'd not really heard it before. Then, he seemed to remember who he was talking to, and grew snappy again. "But I remembered enough to be better than you, so there!"

Doumeki lifted his eyebrow, and turned away to take his turn. His score was okay, but not another strike, and he sat back down again and grabbed another slice of pizza, the second to last one.

"How do you have room for another slice?" Watanuki asked, glaring at him. Doumeki shrugged. He wasn't paying close attention to the game or the pizza though, thinking back to learning to bowl.

"It's been awhile for me, too. Back when my cousins dragged me places to teach me how to date."

"This isn't a date!" Watanuki yelled loud enough for the people in the next lane to look over curiously. Watanuki didn't notice, jumping up and angrily grabbing his bowling ball. He took his turn, and got a spare. Then he stomped back over and sat down. "I wouldn't be caught dead on a date with you," he added.

"You don't look dead," Doumeki said, frowning. He explained further before Watanuki could yell. "I asked you on a date, and you said yes. We can leave if you don't want to keep being on a date with me, but you are actually on one."

Watanuki gaped at him for a moment, before his eyes narrowed. "It's your turn," he hissed.

Doumeki looked at his angry, scrunched up face, and felt a rare sense of satisfaction. This was fun. He stood up, and bowled his last frame. He got another strike, which made Watanuki make a noise like a kettle boiling.

Watanuki stood up before he could take his seat, and grabbed his ball. He got another strike again, which was exactly what he needed. He jumped and pumped a fist in the air.

"Take that!" he shouted, pointing dramatically at Doumeki, who was leaning on the table. "I've won! You lost! Your little plan to humiliate me failed!"

Doumeki folded his arms, and smirked at him.

"My plan?"

Watanuki didn't falter. "Yes, your plan to make a fool out of me! Not today, mister!"

"Another round then?" Doumeki asked, and now Watanuki glared, grinning with bared teeth.

"You're on."

They played a second round, with a much more even matched score throughout. Watanuki had been winning, and then as the hour got later, the bowling alley got busier and busier. As Watanuki rolled another winning strike, the noise level raised again, with a party of what looked like fourteen year olds screaming at each other.

Doumeki had to speak up to be heard. "Want to go?" he asked, as the pins reset, and the computer asked if they wanted another game.

Watanuki, in the middle of another celebration dance, glanced at him with disdain.

"I knew it, you're so ashamed that you can't even be here. That's alright, it's difficult to deal with losses as terrible as you've had today! But, fine, fine, if you can't handle another game with me, we'll go," he said. He grabbed the last slice of pizza, and chewed imperiously.

As they gave back their shoes, after trying to untie cheap laces knotted too tight, Doumeki asked Watanuki what he'd like to do next.

"I know a good ice cream place, if you wanted dessert?" he said. "I'll buy."

"Sure," Watanuki placed his shoes on the counter for the guy behind it, and answered without thinking. Then he looked back to Doumeki, offended like he'd been about to trick him. "No! No, you don't have to! I'm buying my own, at least!" he protested, as he got his own shoes back.

Doumeki shrugged. "If you want to, but I don't know why you'd turn down free ice cream." In truth, Doumeki had a buy one get one free coupon, so Doumeki figured he'd just use that, if Watanuki protested anymore, though he didn't really mind either way.

They both sat down to put on their own shoes, and Watanuki was quiet for a moment, seemingly considering his options.

"You can buy it," he conceded, and then looked away. "But… I'll pay next time."

A small thrill went through him. "Next time," Doumeki didn't quite ask, a small smile at the corner of his lips.

Watanuki was red, and his face was still turned away.

"Y-yes. Now let's go we're done here." He slid on his shoes, and stamped out of the bowling alley.

oooooooooooooooo

"Your car is locked!" Watanuki yelled at Doumeki, who had gone far too slowly in the parking lot. This stupid… whatever this was (a date - not a date!) was taking far too long for his tastes, and ice cream was just going to take longer and then Doumeki might want to talk (ha, he barely conversed) and that would take even longer and Doumeki didn't have class the next day, so Watanuki couldn't use that excuse to get out of it.

Doumeki clicked the unlock button, slid into the car and took time to adjust the mirrors and seat like he was some sort of smooth operator or something, god what an idiot.

Watanuki climbed in as well, grumbling as he fiddled with the twisted seat belt again.

The station was still playing foreign music, and Watanuki kept it there, not wanting to hear any songs about romance.

"So what sort of fancy ice cream does the food snob deem worthy of his taste?" Watanuki asked as they pulled out of the parking lot, rolling his eyes.

"It's actually a frozen custard place," Doumeki told him.

Watanuki raised an eyebrow. "Frozen custard?" he asked, then sighed. "Decent enough I guess." He was actually rather fond of frozen custard, though not really partial to it over any other frozen dessert, but he wasn't about to admit that he liked it to Doumeki, considering it was his choice and Watanuki wasn't about to let him think he chose something good.

"Mhm, it's better than ice cream," Doumeki told him as if it were a universal truth. It wasn't.

"And you would be the guy to ask about taste." Watanuki rolled his eyes yet again as they pulled into a parking lot. "They better be decent, because I swear, if you took me to one of those places that only has two flavors, this da- this thing is through right now."

It occurred to him briefly that he was being awfully childish, and the thought crossed his mind that maybe he should act civil, but then he looked over at Doumeki with his dumb face and decided not yet.

"Don't worry so much. It's good," Doumeki as they pulled into a space - also further away than necessary - then got out quickly and came around the side of the car.

Watanuki saw what he was trying to do, but was too slow as he tried to fix the seat belt and Doumeki had managed to get the door for him.

What the hell was Watanuki supposed to do about that! This was ridiculous. They may as well hold hands!

They were not going to hold hands.

"What is wrong with you?" he yelled, getting out of the car and huffing. "I can, I can open a door you know!"

Doumeki shut the door behind him, which somehow made it worse, then shrugged.

"You were too slow."

"That is no excuse! I was just about to- you're the one who ran around the side of the car! I don't know why you- it's, I was-" he let out a loud yell of frustration, stomping his foot on the ground.

Doumeki turned away, and plucked Watanuki's sleeve as he did, tugging him with him.

"C'mon, I want some custard," he said.

Watanuki swatted Doumeki's hand off, following him and muttering under his breath. The nerve of that guy, honestly. He was the bane of Watanuki's existence, to be sure. No one else got him riled up like this aside from maybe Yuuko, but that was different. Only Doumeki could incite such… irritation! Frustration! Annoyance! And… well, it was kind of interesting to play off of. Not that he'd admit that. No, never.

So he just followed Doumeki in, scowl in place.

The line inside was short, and Watanuki hoped that meant this would go quickly. They took their place in line and Watanuki spent a long moment looking through the impressive and slightly overwhelming list of flavors and mix-ins.

"So what flavor do you want?" Doumeki asked.

Watanuki considered it and although it all looked good, but one flavor caught his eye.

"Mint," he said decidedly.

"Mint sounds good," Doumeki commented, not taking his eyes off the list.

"Because it is good." Usually mint came with chocolate chips or chunks or fudge or something like that, which honestly irked Watanuki a little bit. Just plain mint ice cream, or frozen custard, sounded amazing. Dammit.

Watanuki turned to Doumeki to glare at him for it, and found that he was still just looking over the list and seemed to be thinking far too intently for a guy picking out frozen custard. He looked… well, impassive. He generally did. Impassive or smirking or sometimes he frowned. It was hard to tell.

Though, if Watanuki were to be honest with himself… okay, Doumeki was kinda good-looking, what with the freckles and his jawline and- whatever. But that wasn't the point, now was it?

The point being… Eh, Watanuki didn't really know. The guy was just terrible, that's all there was to it.

Doumeki turned then, and lifted a brow.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked.

He wasn't staring! Just looking, that was all! Watanuki opened his mouth to respond, hoping, hoping words came out - the usual tirade or some sort of excuse, but then Doumeki turned away to order his custard and he was cut short before he could start.

"Chocolate custard with caramel," Doumeki said, and the cashier nodded with a plastic smile and started ringing him up.

Watanuki was about to let her, but… it was already a date anyways and he was going to pay next time (next time? really?) so he may as well.

"And one mint," he blurted out. "Just mint."

"Of course!" the cashier chirped, adding his to the order, and Watanuki stomped away and waited at the other end of the counter before he could see the cost and weigh it and the bowling against the cost of the pizza and pretzels he'd bought and figure out just how much of a date it really was.

Doumeki joined him a moment later and they stood there in silence, waiting for their custards.

"I haven't been to this place before," Watanuki mentioned when the worker brought their order out, presumably demonstrating the custard's frozen-ness by turning them upside down once before handing them over. "Do they always do that?"

Doumeki blinked. "Yeah, I guess." Then he scooped out a bit and stuck the spoon in his mouth and left it there as they walked away from the front, looking like an idiot.

Watanuki followed as Doumeki led them to a table, then pulled out a chair and gestured for Watanuki to sit, spoon still in his mouth.

So Watanuki grabbed the other chair at the table and sat in it, distinctly refusing to be catered to any longer, then shoved a bite of his own custard in his mouth.

"Oh my god, this is amazing," he said, spoon and custard still in his mouth.

Doumeki finally took the stupid spoon out of his stupid mouth and nodded as he sat down before taking another bite.

It was quiet for a moment, which was awkward and Watanuki did not like it but he wasn't about to just start up a conversation because what if he enjoyed the conversation?

Didn't matter though, because Doumeki started up a conversation first.

"I've been coming here since I was a kid," he said, then suddenly stuck his spoon into Watanuki's cup to grab a bite, leaving a trail of chocolate in his mint.

"Hey, get your spoon out of my custard!" Watanuki yelled, swatting at him with his spoon, though Doumeki looked unapologetic. "Don't just go running around eating other people's food like that! It's rude! You have no manners - none!" He pulled his custard back and glared daggers at the guy across the table.

"You can try some of mine," Doumeki said, angling his cup towards Watanuki.

"Are you not listening to me?! Pay attention when I'm explaining things to you!"

But Watanuki looked down at the offered food and scowled.

"One bite makes it even. You steal my food, I steal yours, you got that?" he informed Doumeki angrily, taking a spoonful from his custard and finding that it was, in fact, also amazing. "You snitch again, I take the rest of it. Rude people like you don't deserve fine desserts like these!"

Doumeki turned back to his custard, apparently unaffected.

"The mint is good," he said. "I hadn't had that flavor before."

Watanuki went back to his own custard and took a bite. "Well now you know what you were missing out on this whole time." He took another bite and savored the incredibly smooth texture - how had he not been here before?

It was quiet again, and this time Watanuki did take it upon himself to talk because dammit he was not about to have his custard so rudely stolen again.

"You grew up around here then," he said, backtracking a little bit.

"Mm, just outside the city," Doumeki said, licking his spoon. "My father runs a shrine there."

"Really? A shrine?" That was certainly an interesting thing to see around an area like this.

"Mhm. What about you?"

Okay, no information about the shrine then. This guy was terrible at elaborating, not that Watanuki was surprised by that.

"Oh, uh… I've lived here for about… three and a half years now," he said. "But my mom lives a few hours away in another city."

"You were young when you left home then."

Watanuki considered it. He'd been told that a number of times, but he was college-aged when he left. He just hadn't gone to dorms, just to an apartment in the city by himself, so it must have seemed more odd.

"I guess," he decided, taking another bite of his now-melting custard. "I came out here because the culinary school in the city is one of the best in the state."

Doumeki frowned though. "You've finished school already?"

"Oh no, I'm saving up," Watanuki corrected, waving a hand in the air. "I'll get there eventually…" Then again, was there really a reason at this point? Aside from not constantly having the fact that he hadn't mentioned at every turn, that is. "Until then, I'm working."

"Yuuko hired you with no culinary degree?"

God, like Watanuki hadn't heard that before.

"I'm impressed."

Watanuki stared down at his cup and refused to look at Doumeki, incredibly annoyed at the amount of blushing he was probably doing on a date with someone he obviously didn't even like at all.

"I originally applied to be a busboy," he said - the usual response.

"So, you've got the job you needed the degree for. Why save up?" Doumeki asked then.

Watanuki shoved a large bite of custard in his mouth to give himself time to come up with an answer.

"Don't question my choices! I'll need a degree if anyone's going to take me seriously! A restaurant run by some 21 year old punk who doesn't even have a degree? No! No way! That's not how things work!" he said sharply. "So, mind your business!"

"Sorry," Doumeki replied, eating another mouthful.

Admittedly, Watanuki felt a slight bit bad at shutting him down so harshly, but it was Doumeki.

"I don't know why Yuuko hired me," he said, backtracking again, if only slightly. "She's weird."

"It's true," Doumeki agreed, not that there was an argument against it. "She does what she wants to do.

Watanuki scoffed. "That's Yuuko to a T," he said, then set the spoon aside and just drank what was left in his cup. "She's the worst. No, you're the worst. She's just a very close second on that list."

Doumeki lifted an eyebrow. "Why am I the worst?"

Watanuki froze, not really sure what to say to that.

"Because you're terrible," he decided to say.

Doumeki frowned again, just barely. "Because I took you on a date?" he asked.

"No! You're…" Why was this guy the worst? "You irritate me! You're obtrusive and you give me weird looks and you demand ridiculous food and, and follow me places! And your face is stupid and, and yes you took me on a… date… and that was completely unwarranted and presumptuous!"

If any of that made sense.

There was another pause, then Doumeki spoke.

"I can take you home then," he said.

Watanuki blinked. "What?"

"You were saying that I irritate you, and this date is presumptuous," Doumeki explained.

"I-" Well, Watanuki had been saying that, but… it wasn't quite… It was…

God, it was hard to explain.

He took a breath before he tried to figure out was he was trying to say, then let it out as he decided how to phrase it so it wasn't some sort of compliment to Doumeki because Watanuki didn't want to compliment Doumeki. He didn't deserve that.

"Sometimes I stay late at the restaurant to talk to Yuuko more," he said, deciding on the most roundabout explanation he could come up with. "She's an interesting person and I don't know why she annoys me so much. I'm trying to figure that out, and I still don't know. But we talk about a lot of things, and sometimes I argue with her about it and it's fun. I like Yuuko. I hate her too."

He took another breath and looked straight at Doumeki, a good frown in place and not going anywhere any time soon.

"You annoy me and I don't know why," he told him. "Now finish your damn custard, you take too long to eat."

oooooooooooooooo

Doumeki frowned as he followed Watanuki's twisty thought process. He thought he understood what he meant, though, and some tension eased from his shoulders.

"So, you're annoyed by things that you like?" he asked, his voice edging towards teasing.

Watanuki flushed. "Shut up! That is not what I meant, and you know it!"

"You implied it."

"I didn't imply anything!"

Watanuki was folding his arms, and looking petulant, which was hilarious. Doumeki felt a little embarrassed for getting his feelings hurt there, but for a moment he hadn't been able to brush off what Watanuki had yelled, like he'd always done before. He felt better now, though, and so stood. It was getting kind of late, and the last bit of his custard had melted past the point of saving it.

"Should we get going?"

"Fine," Watanuki said, standing up and turning away.

Doumeki let Watanuki lead the way to the car, unlocking it before he got there, this time. He supposed they were done. It felt like it had ended oddly there, but he hadn't planned anything more. Watanuki also seemed like he wanted to go home. He was looking out the window as they drove, and the silence was heavy.

"I-" Watanuki started a sentence, and Doumeki glanced over. "There's… I think-"  
Doumeki looked at him, and his stuttered sentence starts, trying to put together what he was trying to say.

"Do you… want to do something else?" he asked, squinting, before looking back to the road.  
Watanuki leaned forward, and switched the station, even though the song had been in Chinese or something, and spoke in attempted nonchalance.

"It's early."

Doumeki blinked. Watanuki was flipping through stations studiously, but he thought he'd just heard him say he wanted to… continue on with the date? Huh. He hadn't expected that.

"What should we do?" Doumeki asked, trying to remember if this had come up in any of his conversations with his cousins about dating. It had been a while ago, as they'd given up on him after a while.

Watanuki paused for a second, then grumbled. "This is why I hate dates."

Doumeki raised his eyebrows before Watanuki realized what he said. "This isn't a date!"

He sounded so offended at himself, for even thinking the word, that Doumeki found himself really amused. He smirked a little, and decided to take a new turn, towards the residential side of the city, almost to where it started to turn into suburbs. There was a place he'd gone as a kid, an old park that had a wide circle of bark, and some good high swings. He hoped they were still standing.

Watanuki noticed that they were going a different way, and peered out the car windows.

"Where are you going?" he asked, but Doumeki didn't answer, wanting to surprise him. When they turned into the small parking lot, Watanuki turned to him with a frown. "If you're taking me out here to kill me, I will haunt you for the rest of your life."

Doumeki glanced at him, with his eyebrow high. Where did this guy come up with this?

"It's just a park. It has good swings."

"Oh, swings?" Watanuki said, a bit of interest coming into his voice.

"Yeah," Doumeki said, as they both got out of the car. Doumeki led the way to the playground, the bark shifting under his shoes. It was quite dark now, but there were street lamps around the edges, and the moon was out. Luckily, it wasn't too chilly, even though it was March.

He followed that familiar path around the play structure, and the see saw to the swingset, testing the chains before hopping on. They looked big enough for two adults, and the chains held him up fine. Watanuki took the swing next to him, looking eager, like he hadn't seen swings in years. Granted, Doumeki hadn't been on a swing set in a while either.

Watanuki immediately started to pump, getting himself swinging higher and higher.

"Doumeki Shizuka," he said out of the blue. "It's a very traditional name. Is your family traditional like that? Well, they run a shrine, they must be."

Doumeki lifted his feet, and pushed off, swinging too.

"My immediate family is, I guess. My extended family isn't so much."

"Extended family?" Watanuki questioned. "You mentioned cousins before. Do they all live nearby? Your extended family, I mean."

Doumeki let the swing lose a little momentum, aware that it wasn't often that Watanuki just talked to him, instead of yelling at or about him.

"Most of them live in or outside the city. Some of them live further away though." He paused, considering what else he could bring up. He'd never been very good at small talk, but he didn't want to throw off...whatever this was. It felt good, like Watanuki was actually looking at him, and not even minding what he saw. "There are a lot of them… it's hard to keep track of where everyone is."

"That must be interesting," Watanuki said. "I don't have a lot of extended family. And they're not that close anyways, so I don't see them often. It's weird to think of you coming from a big family. You must have disappeared under the masses."

"Me and my parents are the quiet ones," Doumeki said, pushing backwards and letting himself swing forwards freely, before stopping himself again on the back swing. Watanuki had his head turned as he swung, listening to him while he told him about his life. Something warmed in Doumeki's chest. It was nice to have someone listen.

"The rest are… exuberant. They dragged me all around growing up."

Watanuki laughed a little. "And these are the people whose advice you took on dating?"

Doumeki huffed in response, surprising himself. "I guess I did."

Watanuki pushed himself fast, turning his nose up. "Well, they're obviously complete idiots.

But if their advice is working for you, then fine, listen to your idiot cousins. No way they could possibly be any worse than you."

Doumeki lifted an eyebrow, and kicked off as well, trying to swing higher than Watanuki in some ingrained childlike competition.

"Is it? Working, I mean?" he asked, as they both with higher and higher.

"No!" Watanuki ramped up his pumping. "Of course not! Your dating techniques are, are way too… too…" he paused, obviously trying to think of an adequate word. "They're not working, god, shut up, don't look at me like that!"

Doumeki smirked, pumping his legs even harder. Watanuki was protesting that he wasn't have a good time, but if he wasn't, wouldn't he have let him take him home and end the date? Instead, he continued it; he asked him questions, and opened up enough for Doumeki to actually feel he could respond. He looked at Watanuki, swinging almost as high as him, and thought that if it wasn't dark, he'd be able to see Watanuki's blush.

Happy, Doumeki timed the top of the swing, and jumped off, landing on the ground in a crouch, just like he'd always done as a kid. He stood up in time, to turn and see, with a spike of alarm, Watanuki jump as well, yelling and flailing in the air, and looking like he was about to break his neck, before somehow landing on his feet. He straightened upright, apparently fine, but Doumeki's heart was beating quicker.

"Are you okay?" he asked, jogging the few feet between them.

Watanuki turned to Doumeki, brushing himself off. "I am fine! I was just going higher than I thought I was, can't I even jump off a swing without you hovering over me, jeez."

Doumeki let out a breath, relaxing. Watanuki's mode of choice seemed to be yelling and flailing, so he should have expected that would carry over to all aspects of life.

"You're like a cat," he said, stepped back and putting his hands in his pockets. And that set Watanuki off. Whoops.

"It's rude to say things like that to people, you know!" he yelled, shaking a fist. "Especially if they're not true! I am not a cat! I am- oh, I think it's starting to rain," he said, suddenly deflating, and putting out his hand to feel for the droplets. The abruptness of the change was pretty hilarious.

Doumeki put out his hand as well, looking up.

"Mm, guess some clouds blew in." It wasn't cold, but it was starting to pick up a bit. Watanuki was frowning at the sky, apparently not a fan of rain (his mind again supplied the comparison to a cat, but he wasn't being mean, no matter what Watanuki seemed to think) and Watanuki put his glasses into his pants pocket.

"Oh, clouds blew in, thanks for that, weatherman," he said, turning to walk back to the car.

Doumeki watched him go, momentarily nonplussed at Watanuki's face without glasses. He looked the same as always, a slightly grumpy expression in place, but even in only the light from the street lamp, Doumeki could clearly see how blue his eyes were.

Shaking it off, he turned and followed Watanuki to the car, clicking the button in his pocket before Watanuki reached the door. It came naturally, like a habit even after only one night. Doumeki smiled, hidden while Watanuki climbed into the car. He was fine with that, he realized. He liked having habits about Watanuki.


	3. Chapter 3: Gossip

Watanuki didn't sleep well that night, and dreamt of running out of noodles at the restaurant and then being crushed by a tomato, which was not terribly abnormal for him but also oddly frustrating and really set him on edge.

He spent the earlier part of the day cleaning an already clean kitchen and finally finishing up the _Star Wars_ DVD he'd started the other day as he folded laundry and tried not to think about…

But how could he _not_ think about that date with Doumeki?

As much as Watanuki tried to distract himself with chores and movies, he found himself obsessing over that date. That first date that was really more like a second date, now that he thought about it. That dinner Watanuki made for him at his apartment seemed really date-like. Not that Watanuki wanted it to be a date! It just seemed like it was.

Oh god, he'd gone on _two_ dates with this Doumeki guy! Two!

Whatever. That was the end of it. Watanuki was _not_ interested.

…

Was he?

Oh god, he might have been. He… Doumeki was actually really interesting to talk to and fun to argue with. He got Watanuki riled up like only Yuuko could before, and he was thoughtful and dammit, he _was_ kind of decent looking from the right angle.

But Watanuki had already resolved to hate him. Before he'd ever met the guy, he was annoyed at him and not having any of it. But now they'd gone out and he seemed not horrible and Watanuki kind of wanted to go out again, but, but, but,

Doumeki still _irritated_ him. His smug looks and stupid face and the way he was just so presumptuous about everything and-

"Dammit!"

In his frustration, he'd almost missed the time.

Watanuki changed quickly, and rushed out the door to head to the restaurant for the day's shift.

"Luckily no one knows we went out, and no one has to know because we're never going out again," Watanuki said to no one in particular as he locked up his bike behind the restaurant, and he was comforted in that fact.

But that comfort lasted no more than a moment.

He entered the building to find that Yuuko was eyeing him funny and some of the cooks and waiters looked way too interested in his entrance.

"I'm only five minutes late," he said to Yuuko to the side, hoping that's all this was.

"It's alright if you're distracted, we all understand," she said, more loudly than necessary.

"Understand what?" asked Watanuki, feeling like he was about to be punched in the gut.

"Your date! How did it go?" She clapped her hands, and looked far too excited and yes, there was that punch in the gut.

"What?! No! I didn't! I didn't go on a date!"

Sorata showed up from nowhere, as he tended to do, and slung an arm around Watanuki.

"Sure you did! With Doumeki, I heard. You know, he's a real great guy. You two look good together. He's quiet though. Dealing with quiet people can be tough, I know how it is; my girlfriend Arashi is quiet, and I-"

"Go back to work," Watanuki snapped, pushing Sorata's arm off him and stomping off to his work station.

How had they known? How did they find out about the date? He hadn't told anyone, and they didn't see anyone while they were out, and they knew Watanuki got rides home from Doumeki sometimes, but that obviously wasn't a date and not what they were talking about and-

Dammit. Doumeki must have told them.

Well then. If Doumeki wanted to gossip to the whole restaurant, fine. See if Watanuki went on a second (third?) date with him after that stunt. Maybe if he hadn't-

"Watanuki?"

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the lovely smile of one Himawari Kunogi.

"Ah, Himawari!" Watanuki smiled as she stopped by his station, always glad to see her.

"Hello, Watanuki! I heard about- oh, was it that bad?"

Watanuki's smile had quickly turned itself into a frown upon mention (or half-mention) of his so-called date, and Himawari looked upset at it, so he smoothed it out.

"It was…"

"You can tell me if it was, you know. Or if it wasn't."

Watanuki pouted and turned back to the vegetables he was chopping.

"It wasn't horrible. But then he went and told the whole restaurant about it and, well, that's that. I won't go again."

"So you had a good time?" she asked quietly, apparently not focusing on the important part of his response, but picking up on the implication he gave away.

"Yes," he admitted under his breath.

She smiled, and patted him on the back. "I won't tell. But if you had a good time, you should think about going again. You two are such good friends."

"I think not," Watanuki said, but… Eh, maybe he would go again, at least to solidify the fact that he wasn't fond of Doumeki, if nothing else. Obviously nothing else, because last night was a weird cosmic fluke, and Watanuki would prove it. And if it wasn't a cosmic fluke… he'd go from there.

But only after he gave Doumeki an earful about telling everyone.

Himawari shrugged and smiled. "Alright. Whatever you decide."

Watanuki waved a hand vaguely, and they both got back to their jobs.

oooooooooooooo

Doumeki woke with a flutter of nerves in his stomach. He had work today, so he'd have to go back to the restaurant today, and that would mean seeing Watanuki. Their date last night had been up and down, and though it still seemed like it had ended on a good note...he still wasn't sure what would happen from here.

His roommate, LaVon, rolled over in his bed on the other side of the room muttering protests about Doumeki's noise as he got up, like he always did. It was Saturday, so Doumeki normally got up earlier and took advantage of the lack of classes to work out, or laze around. Today, he got up and showered, and ate breakfast, savoring every bite of whatever sugary cereal Caleb had bought. Caleb was another roommate, but he hardly ever saw him, and instead kept track of his movements by the black sharpie labeled food in the cupboards, and how empty the packages were at any given moment.

Doumeki chewed, and read the back of the cereal box, eyes tracing a maze for kids as he chewed. His shift didn't start until two, so he had some time to finish up the homework for the weekend today, and tomorrow. He wasn't terribly rushed.

Doumeki turned his thoughts to the evening before, wondering what Watanuki had thought. He hadn't even been sure that Watanuki was interested in guys, let alone in _him_ so even him saying yes had been a pleasant surprise. They'd had fun, he thought, though it was hard to tell when Watanuki yelled so much all the time. Maybe he should get earplugs?

"You look strangely un-grumpy, dude." LaVon emerged from their room, yawning and grabbing a bowl for some of the same cereal. Guess they'd both owe Caleb a new box. LaVon took a bite, and seemed to wake up some from the sugar. "Somebody buy you a pony?"

Doumeki frowned at him. "A pink one," he said dryly, taking another bite. LaVon laughed, and lifted his hand.

"Alright, alright. Keep your secrets. It can't be weirder than whatever Caleb does all the time." Which none of them actually knew. Even Sam, their final roommate, who shared a room with Caleb, never knew what he was up to.

Doumeki went to work later that day, still in the vaguely nervous and mildly excited mood he'd spent the day in. He entered the kitchen, still tying on his apron, when he felt the wave of eyes turn towards him. That was...unusual. Somebody in the back whispered, and then Himawari came past him carrying a tray, and everyone went back to their jobs.

"Did you have a good weekend, Doumeki?" she asked, and Doumeki frowned at hers and everyone's odd behavior.

"Uh, yeah," he said, and laughter went up. Doumeki moved in further to put away his bag, and begin his shift, but he stalled at the food prep station, where Watanuki was furiously chopping vegetables. His face was red, and he seemed more annoyed than usual, so maybe he knew something. "Do you know what's going on?" he asked, forgoing a usual greeting.

"As if you don't know," Watanuki snapped at him, not looking up. Doumeki fingered the strap of his bag, confused.

"Uh, I don't," he said. Another server walked by and clapped him on the shoulder, eying him and Watanuki. Doumeki began to understand what they were teasing about. They'd found out about their date. But he didn't understand why Watanuki seemed mad at /him/-?

"You told them, didn't you?" he asked, finishing up the onions he was chopping, and sweeping them into a bin, ready to cook. "They all know because you told them," he sounded terribly unhappy, and he was chopping (now) peppers with a harshness he wasn't used to.

Doumeki lifted his brow. "About our date?"

Watanuki growled, and his ears reddened. "Yes. Yes, they know. So, thank you for advertising that," he said. Doumeki frowned, feeling defensive. He hadn't even been here first that day. Doumeki could have just as easily accused Watanuki of telling everyone, not that he cared much.

"I didn't tell anyone," Doumeki replied, in a flat tone, offended.

Just then, Yuuko swept over, wearing her long skirts and heels that Doumeki privately thought were a little impractical for the restaurant kitchen. She managed well enough though.

"Good morning, you two!" she said, smiling at both of them (which always gave Doumeki the unsettling impression that she was going to eat him), "Did you both have fun last night?" Watanuki spluttered, and she leaned her hip against Watanuki's cutting station, poking his shoulder.

"Oh, Watanuki, you shouldn't be surprised, when it was you who was crowing about it outside the restaurant the night he asked you!" she said. Watanuki froze.

"You- you shouldn't eavesdrop on other people's conversations!"

Yuuko waved her hand. "Oh, don't worry so much! Everyone here's supporting you! When's the next date?" Yuuko asked. Loudly. Doumeki was thinking he should probably put his bag away, and start doing his work, but her hand caught his elbow, and she was grinning evilly.

Watanuki set his knife down hard, and spun around to face Yuuko, his face looking legitimately mad.

"Firstly, Yuuko, that is my private life. You don't need to go yelling about it to all of my coworkers! If I want to go on a date with him again, I will, and I don't need everyone to know! If I don't want to, I won't, and they don't need to know that either! And secondly, I don't know! You don't plan a date on a date, you know!"

Doumeki's eyebrows were raised. Yuuko chuckled, and pinched Watanuki's cheek too quickly for him to swat it away.

"Such a temper. Be sure not to take it out on our poor Doumeki here." And she sauntered off.

Watanuki waved her hand away after the fact, like he could get rid of some scent she left behind, before angrily turning back to his chopping. Doumeki was turning to go finally put away his bag, taking what he thought was the wiser course of not trying to follow up that conversation with any remarks of his own, when Watanuki spoke. It was a little too quiet for him to be sure of what he'd said.

"Huh?"

"I said I'd pay next time," he said again, looking around quickly. He was still red faced, but he looked less angry. Maybe.

"Oh." Doumeki blinked slowly, as he took in that Watanuki _did_ want to go out with him again. And pay, no less. That was...surprising. He was glad though, he discovered. He really was. "Okay."

"Check the schedule. Pick a day. And get to work, dammit, your shift started already!"

Doumeki smirked and moved off, starting on his assignments. If he'd been anyone else, he would have been smiling. As it was, everyone may have noticed that he was decidedly 'ungrumpy' today.

* * *

A/N: Credit to Arisprite for the Doumeki POV! And hello Himawari and Yuuko! Good to see you. Also Sorata, randomly? I don't know how he ended up here. He just kind of... showed up. As he does.


	4. Chapter 4: Mario Kart

Again, this whole story is cowritten with arisprite, who is fabulous and you should check out her work.

* * *

It was LaVon's idea to have a roommate movie night. Sam was in the corner of the couch, tapping on his laptop (in the room, he'd protested, so LaVon couldn't complain about him not paying attention) and they'd pinned down Caleb as well. He was in the spinning armchair, feet over the side, and he and LaVon were having an argument about the comic lore of the Avengers vs. the movie. Doumeki lay on the floor, with his feet up on the tv stand and head on a pillow, barely paying attention to the argument above him.

They'd taken forever to pick a movie, between the four of them (since LaVon did have over three hundred just on his own, and Caleb and Sam had a fair few) and though Doumeki had voted for the Avengers, he was now letting his mind drift as the action scenes started. It just happened to drift towards his date last weekend.

Watanuki had been odd, and awkward, and funny and fun on that strange and convoluted adventure. He hadn't expected to have that much fun. Or to get that annoyed. Watanuki was a conundrum, and Doumeki wasn't quite sure where his emotions would fall at any given moment with him. It sure wasn't boring, though.

When he'd left home, he thought he wanted boring. His childhood, and teenage years had been crazy and full of trouble, and he'd come to college not really looking for excitement after that. Turned out, maybe he missed it, because he'd found a guy who was just as crazy in one way or another. He wasn't sure how things with Watanuki would work out, or if they would at all, but he did want to try. And Watanuki apparently did as well, since they were going on a second date, sometime. He didn't know when, but he anticipated it would be just as surprising as the last one.

"Hey, Doumeki. You're looking ungrumpy again," LaVon said, tossing a pillow at him.

"Ungrumpy, huh?" Caleb said.

Doumeki got up on one elbow, and threw the pillow back at LaVon's face. LaVon laughed.

"Seriously, man. What are you thinking about? _Someone~_?"

They were all look at him curiously, and Doumeki blessed his lack of a tendency to blush… except where Watanuki was concerned, and now he was praying that they wouldn't notice.

"Stop," Doumeki said, knowing if he responded any other way, they'd jump right on it. Except, he'd forgotten that his roommates weren't his cousins, and so they just laughed lightly, and left it be. Huh.

Doumeki hadn't told any of them that he'd gone on a date, not that any of them except LaVon were close enough or around enough for Doumeki to even feel like he was hiding anything. LaVon shared a room with with him, and they'd talked about things before, including Doumeki not being interested in girls, but it still gave Doumeki a moment of hesitation.

Well, there was little point to bringing it up right now. He didn't even know when he was going out with Watanuki again, or if it would go well. he resolved to bring it up if this, whatever it was, continued.

Just then, Doumeki's ringtone cut through the snarky banter, causing exaggerated groans. Doumeki glanced at the name, and saw that it was Watanuki, so he stood up, and waved that they didn't have to pause it.

"Hello?" he said in the kitchen, once he'd come around the dividing wall.

With no greeting, Watanuki spoke. "What's your favorite food?"

Doumeki blinked, taken aback at the question. His favorite food? He didn't really have one… well, he liked things like sushi, and most traditional Japanese foods, and pizza (but not frozen) and pasta, and those really tiny quiches, and all kinds of things, really. But was Watanuki asking because he wanted to cook him something, and if so, what in the world would Doumeki tell him?

"Uh...in what context?"

"Any context. I don't care. Just, what is it?"

"Are you...making dinner?" Doumeki asked slowly. Was this the plan for their next date? If so, he had no complaints, but what to choose? Something simple, or harder? Would Watanuki want to show off, or not stress about it? Did Watanuki have any dislikes?

"No, I'm making a list of things I hate about you, and I want to know if I should add your favorite foods to the list," Watanuki said, and then paused. "Yes. Yes, I'm making dinner, now would you pick a meal?"

Well, now Doumeki knew he was going to pick something hard, just for that answer.

"Yakitori," he said, suddenly craving that flavor and crunch of the grilled meat and vegetables. "If you have a grill?"

"Done." With that, Watanuki hung up the phone. Doumeki pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the blinking 'end call' screen. He huffed a little. Yup, he was right. Not boring in the least. He wondered when dinner would be.

Doumeki had barely turned to head back into the living room for the movie, when the phone rang again.

"Hello?" he said again.

"Six. Come to my apartment at six."

It was already after six tonight, so he assumed he meant the next day.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes. Yes, six tomorrow." There was a long pause, and Watanuki spoke again, less brisk. "Ah. Unless you wanted to do it earlier, or later. When do you usually eat dinner?"

"Tomorrow's my day off, so any time would work. Six is fine, though," Doumeki said, amused at Watanuki's abrupt switch in tones.

"Ah, Then six." The phone shifted a little, and then Watanuki kept talking. "Does that seem early? What about drinks? I was going to get more of those sodas, but you said you like lemonade, so I could get that. Wait, do you _drink_ drink?"

Doumeki had learned a while back that Watanuki asked three questions in the place of one, and usually Doumeki had to pick and choose which one to answer. Occasionally, Doumeki took the time to go through the full list.

"Six is good. I like lemonade, but you don't have to get it, and no, not really. Do you?"

"No. I keep alcohol in the apartment for cooking, and that's all. What kind of lemonade? There's… oh, no, you don't like the packets. You like the, ah, I'm glad I remembered. Not that I'm glad to have remembered anything about you. It's just- god, whatever, I'm getting you good lemonade. Oh! Oh, no, I have a better idea."

Doumeki sat down at the kitchen table as Watanuki rambled. It made his face soften a little more, to what was probably that 'ungrumpy' look that LaVon was always talking about.

"What's that?" he asked, about the idea.

"What? Nothing. Oh! They started selling canned inarizushi at the grocery store! They did not have this last time, let me tell you." It was almost like he forgot he was on the phone, and was just narrating what he was doing. "Why am I telling you? Why am I still on the phone with you?" He paused. "Was there anything else?"

"Inarizushi?" Doumeki asked, voice piqued with interest. Of course, it was great when the tofu was prepared from fresh, but the canned was also delicious. "Make that too, sometime."

"I tossed three cans in my cart," Watanuki said. "I assume this means there was no other reason to be on the phone?"

"Guess so," Doumeki said. "See you tomorrow then. Six. Want me to bring anything?"

"Nope. Bye." And he hung up again.

Doumeki looked at his phone, huffed once more, and headed back out to watch movies. His roommates were too engrossed to ask who he'd been talking to, so Doumeki lay back down on the floor to watch superheroes save the day.

oooooooooooooooo

Watanuki did a deep clean of his apartment in the morning. Well, semi-deep. Made everything look nice and presentable for the date. Cleared off the counters, placed the couch pillows in aesthetically pleasing places, did all the dishes, considered using a tablecloth (that seemed a bit much though), and vacuumed and everything. It was so stupid. This date was stupid.

Yes, it was a date. Watanuki had invited Doumeki over for a second (third?) date for some unknown reason to cook him dinner.

Dinner. Dinner with Doumeki. Dinner for Doumeki. Specifically for Doumeki. Seemed odd and slightly stressful, as whatever Watanuki cooked, and how he cooked it, would be a display of Watanuki's feelings towards him. When Watanuki had cooked before, it had either been at the restaurant, or the one time at home, and really that was for Watanuki, not Doumeki. But this time, this was specifically for Doumeki, and Watanuki wasn't sure what he was feeling so how could he know what to do?

Which was why he'd just asked Doumeki what he wanted and went from there because this was far too complicated. But he was going all out, apparently. Multiple side-dishes, homemade lemonade, some pastries from his favorite patisserie, and even used the good dishware.

It was stupid, but Watanuki sort of wanted to impress the guy. Not that it meant anything. He just wanted Doumeki to know that he was competent and impressive and all that.

So around six, Watanuki was finishing up with the dinner when there was a knock on his door. Which was unfortunate because Watanuki wasn't quite ready, still wearing an apron and headscarf.

But it was just Doumeki. It didn't matter.

Watanuki ran to get the door, sliding on the tile floor of the kitchen on the way over.

"Oi," was the oh-so articulate greeting Doumeki gave as Watanuki opened the door. "I like your scarf."

Watanuki narrowed his eyes at him.

"What a way to start a date," he said, huffing and opening the door the rest of the way to allow Doumeki to enter. "I was cleaning and cooking all day, so- not that it was in preparation for this, I always clean on my days off!"

Doumeki came inside without reacting one way or the other, and looked around the apartment as he slid his shoes off.

"Looks nice," he said.

"Of course it looks nice," Watanuki agreed grumpily, turning away to hide any sort of prideful blush. "Food is almost done."

He headed back to the kitchen, shutting the door behind Doumeki, and got back to grilling the yakitori, which was difficult indoors, but that's why he'd bought an indoor griddle a few years back.

"Ah, you can have a drink while you wait," he said then, gesturing to the full pitcher on the counter and the glasses next to them.

Doumeki followed Watanuki to the kitchen and stared at the pitcher.

"Is this homemade?" he asked.

"Yes," Watanuki told him. "If it's too sweet or not sweet enough, no complaining because it's already made."

Doumeki poured himself a glass and sat at the stool across the counter that divided the kitchen and living room.

"It's good," he said after trying it.

Watanuki nodded and let the chicken grill a little while longer, then turned back to face Doumeki, leaning forward on the counter between them.

"I meant to have this done sooner, but at least now you know how much you demanded of me!" he proclaimed.

Doumeki just hummed and drank more lemonade, and the silence stretched a moment too long.

"You know, you're not much of a conversationalist," Watanuki pointed out with a frown, then turned back to the yakitori, which was finally done. "Food," he said. "Now go sit at the actual table; this is a proper dinner.

"Can I help?" Doumeki asked as Watanuki started moving the food onto a serving plate to take to the table.

Watanuki considered telling him no, but thought better of it because he may as well make Doumeki do some of the work.

"Plates up there," he said, pointing at a cabinet. "Silverware there." He opened and closed the drawer in question, then brought the yakitori to the kitchen along with the rice. "I don't have a proper grill, so it won't be as good as I'd like, but the tare sauce was good, so that should make up for it."

Doumeki didn't say much more than a 'mm' as he set the table (very nicely, Watanuki had to admit) and then sat as Watanuki finished setting the food out.

Watanuki had to admit to himself that he had done a damn good job on this dinner. Truly a masterpiece of culinary wonder. Even the aesthetics were on par. Foodies everywhere would instagram this beauty.

As it were, they were just going to eat it.

But he did step back for a moment to admire it then nodded his head, proud of his work. Finally he took of his apron and scarf, hoping his hair didn't look too messy and glad that he'd thought to change into decent clothes a few hours prior to Doumeki actually arriving.

He sat, and considered saying _ittadakimasu_, considering the formal meal, but Doumeki didn't seem the type of guy who did that back home. Watanuki's mom though had been very traditional, and had him do that at meals, but he fell out of the habit upon living alone for so long.

"Okay, after this, I've got dessert, but I'd say maybe let dinner settle first, and as far as something else to do, I mean, I've got…" Oh god, he didn't plan this well. All he did was clean and cook and eating was nice and all, but there's more to socializing than just that. He'd planned better dates than this, what the hell was wrong with him? "Things," he finished, taking a bite of the yakitori and determining that yes, it did taste as good as it looked, though the proper grill might have helped.

"Things," Doumeki repeated with a raised eyebrow, then took a bite himself, then got to his chomping. "Mm," was all he said.

"Quit chomping," Watanuki ordered, though he was glad to see that Doumeki was enjoying the food.

Well, not glad… but there was a sense of self-satisfaction at the very least.

"What's for dessert?" Doumeki asked.

"Ah. There's a patisserie in the city that I like. I got something there. I didn't feel like cooking it myself after this debacle, so you'll have to settle for something else, if you can stand that, mister 'I eat at the restaurant with every dime I can spare on a student's budget.'"

"It's easier now that I work there," Doumeki replied.

"You have a problem," Watanuki said, then took a rather large bite of food because he knew he'd have to explain what that problem was and he wasn't entirely sure what it was.

"Problem being… good food?" Doumeki asked.

Watanuki tried to figure out how to articulate what he meant.

"I'm a good chef," Watanuki said. "I am. I've been told that, and I think so. But I'm not the best. Not by a long shot. It's not like I'm a classically trained, five-star chef who's been at this for years. I taught myself at home. I'm only twenty-one." He made eye contact with Doumeki then, and frowned, turning the question on him. "Why my food?"

oooooooooooooooooo

Doumeki blinked. He liked good food, he did. But why was it Watanuki's food that had drawn him in, before he'd even met him? He didn't have an answer for that question.

He shrugged instead, taking another bite. Watanuki rolled his eyes, and took a bite of his own. Neither of them spoke for a moment, and Doumeki tried to think of something to say. He was too aware that this was the _second_ date. If things went badly on a first date, then it just didn't work out. If they went badly today, then things had been going well enough, and someone ruined it. It this didn't work out, then it would be somebody's fault. It would end any chance he might have had.

The thought process was overdramatic and illogical, and Doumeki tried to push it away, but he still couldn't think of anything to say, and he really wasn't tasting the food he was chewing anymore.

"Ahh…" Watanuki started. "You know-" Another pause. "Today-"

He broke off, and shoved a bite of food in his mouth.

Doumeki tried.

"Mm," he said, looking at his fork. "Uh…"

There was a snapping silence, and then Watanuki set down his fork with a clatter and a glare, causing Doumeki to jump.

"This is stupid," he said. "There are a thousand things to say. What did you do today? How's the weather? Ah, that's a nice shirt, is it new? Oh, the food is delicious. Wow, I didn't know homemade lemonade could taste so good. How was school? How was being at home?" He puffed out his cheeks, and let out the breath and took a drink.

Doumeki blinked, surprise and amusement making him huff out loud.

"Right," Doumeki said, lips quirking up a little. He thought back to the topics Watanuki had brought up, and picked one at random. "Today I… went to school. It was a boring day. Someone brought a dog to one of my classes, and it got loose for a little bit, but it was fine."

Watanuki choked on his food with a laugh. "What? Are you even allowed to bring pets to class? God, that poor teacher."

Doumeki shrugged. "Well, people do. The girl just let it down for a second, and it ran around. It was a little one, so no one was really bothered. I don't know if the teacher cared."

"Oh, one of the yappy ones?" Watanuki asked, looking amused. "How is a small dog running around a classroom something to not care about? If you were a teacher, wouldn't it bother you to have a dog running around?"

Doumeki tilted his head and thought about it. "If it wasn't making noise, and no one was scared. It ran back to the girl after a little while."

"Weird," he said, looking like he was thinking. He shrugged then. "I never went to college, though, so I guess I don't know."

"College is weird. Weirder than high school," Doumeki agreed. "No one really cares what you do."

"Huh. We weren't allowed to wear hats," Watanuki said, and Doumeki nodded, remembering the strict rules in his own high school.

"Or shorts. And the girls had it worse."

"That's true. Dress code was completely ridiculous. Oh, no gum. We couldn't have gum. I got detention for that once. A little uncalled for, I think."

Doumeki was remembering the institutionalization of the rules there in his high school, and nodded.

"I got detention once. It wasn't my fault though."

Watanuki looked surprised. "What happened?"

"My cousin, Noah, was in my grade. He threw a paper airplane at the girl he thought I liked, and the girl got mad. The teacher thought it was me, and we both got detention." Doumeki said, telling the story blandly, but Watanuki still got an amused look on his face.

"And thus quiet Shizuka got detention," Watanuki said, chuckling. "I'd believe it if you _did_ throw the paper airplane though. It sounds like you."

Doumeki frowned a little, protesting. "I wouldn't throw it at anyone in that class. Or high school at all," Doumeki mused. In fact, the only person who he might had felt included to throw one at would be Watanuki, at least for the reason being a crush, though he supposed Watanuki's reaction would put a damper on the flirtiness. "Noah was convinced I liked her though."

"This Noah sounds like a character. One of the infamous cousins that gave you bad dating and bowling advice?"

"He was never good at dating advice."

"He did seem to think you were going after girls," Watanuki said. "Ah, unless you were. That's fine. You didn't do much dating then? Or just bad dating, based on that Noah's advice?"

Doumeki pondered for a moment. He'd barely talked about this with anyone, though LaVon knew (he'd asked him to double date with two girls before, and Doumeki had had to say he didn't want to date women anymore - LaVon was supportive, but he still hadn't mentioned it to Noah, and his family). Noah had only ever assumed he was straight, and that had resulted in a number of set up dates that didn't really go well.

"Bad dates," he said firmly. "I didn't like going out with girls," he said, blushing. It was weird to talk about this, especially with a guy that he actually liked. He'd had one or two crushes on guys in high school, but he could have never imagined talking so frankly with them about it.

Watanuki looked thoughtful, but not judgmental, which was a relief. "Hm," he said, eyes far away. "I've gone on dates with both guys and girls. I exclusively dated a girl once, and I had a boyfriend for a few months in high school… I guess…"

Doumeki frowned. "You guess?"

"I don't know. He was dating me more than I was dating him. Same with the girl and anyone else." He shrugged.

Doumeki looked at him, a kind of sympathy coming forward. "So, we're both kinda new at this," he decided to say, instead of asking anything more.

"Explains the wonderful dinner conversation earlier," Watanuki deadpanned.

"Yeah," Doumeki said, scraping the last of the dinner onto his fork. He felt a little better knowing apparently it wasn't just him that didn't know what he was doing. "Guess we'll figure it out." If they decided to keep seeing each other, that was. After the fact, Doumeki realized that had sounded like he'd already been planning on continuing things with Watanuki. Like they'd both made the decision, when they hadn't talked about it, or even made the plans for next time… he looked up at Watanuki to see if he seemed upset.

But Watanuki was nodding, like he agreed. Maybe without thinking about it, since he then paused, and pursed his mouth.

"Have you ever had a millefeuille?" Watanuki asked, changing the subject.

"A what?" That wasn't English or Japanese, and that was the extent of Doumeki's knowledge of languages. Watanuki looked amused.

"That's a no then. It's a pastry. I bought some for dessert because they looked good. Oh, wait, Napoleon. They're called Napoleons. I spent so long trying to pronounce that stupid French word. Anyways, I have those, and also some fruit tarts if you prefer. I don't know what you like. Not that I care if you don't like it, because anything I get you, you'll be happy to have, whether you like it or not." After that impressive stream of words, Watanuki got up, sniffing proudly, and headed to the fridge to pull out a white confectionary box. "So take your pick. If you're feeling like enough of a glutton - you probably are - you can even have both."

Doumeki's lip quirked, and he reached for one of each, since he'd been given permission. They both looked amazing, the milli-whatever Watanuki had mentioned, and the fruit tart. He took a bite of the first thing, and closed his eyes at the taste - almost donut like, but much much better.

"Where did you get these?" he asked, though the bite.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, you have no manners. There's a patisserie downtown," Watanuki said. "Not a lot of people go by, which is a shame because the owner is very nice, and her food is amazing."

Doumeki swallowed. "It's good," he said, eying the best way to bite into the fruit tart. It had strawberries, peaches and kiwis on it, with a thin glaze, over cream, and it too looked delicious.

Watanuki refilled Doumeki's lemonade glass, and continued. "I found it by happenstance my first… month or so of living here. Wrong bus." He handed the glass back to Watanuki, and their fingers brushed a bit when Doumeki accepted it.

"Lucky," he commented. Watanuki humphed.

"Yes and no. It was raining, I ended up not making it to a job interview, and the next bus didn't come for nearly an hour."

"You did find good pastries though," Doumeki said, finishing off the millie stuff.

Watanuki nodded. "Yes. And Karine - the owner- she told me all about the good restaurants in the city that I could apply at, so… I guess if I hadn't taken the wrong bus, I wouldn't work at Yuuko's…" he trailed off and looked down at the pastry in his hand. "Huh. I should really buy more pastries."

Doumeki considered the rest of his tart as well. If Watanuki hadn't taken the wrong bus that day, then he'd have never been working in Yuuko's restaurant, and Doumeki would never have come to eat his food. If it weren't for that patisserie, they wouldn't even be sitting here.

"You probably wouldn't be a cook either, if another restaurant had hired you," Doumeki said. "Not for a while, anyway."

"Dishes," Watanuki said, with disdain. Then he blinked, and looked up at him. "Why were you at Yuuko's restaurant? It's not a really well known place. Out-of-the-way and hard to find."

"That first day?" Doumeki tried to recall the circumstances. "I think a member of a study group liked it, and the lunch prices aren't that bad. Then I liked the food." _Your food_, he meant. That had been the entire reason he'd come back.

"You came back a day later, it can't have been _that_ good."

Doumeki thought back to what he'd thought - how he was prepared to dislike what the server brought out, because he didn't generally like restaurant food, especially stuff that other people picked out, but he'd been more than pleasantly surprised.

"It was. Is," Doumeki said.

Watanuki frowned at him. "For all your many, many flaws, Doumeki, you at least have good taste," Watanuki then sighed, rolling his eyes.

Doumeki narrowed his eyes at the flaws comment, but acquiesced.

ooooooooooooo

They finished dessert around the table, and it ended up not being so bad. He was able to keep Doumeki involved in conversation, and so long as they were both engaged, it was… good. Ugh.

When they were finished, Watanuki took the plates to the kitchen to wash.

"Do you need any help with the dishes?" Doumeki asked from his seat.

"Dishwasher," Watanuki explained, as he began filling up said appliance.

They'd finished dinner, they'd eaten dessert, that was literally all Watanuki had thought to do. He could just end it here. It was stupid to just keep going on a date with someone so terrible, but…

God, why did Watanuki want to continue it?

But there was nothing to do. They'd eaten and-

"I have Mario Kart," he remembered suddenly. "My dad sent it a few weeks ago."

"I might be terrible," Doumeki said after a moment of thought.

"Good," Watanuki said as he closed the dishwasher, then ran around the counter to get to the living room and set it all up.

A thought occurred to him. Doumeki didn't seem to think he'd be terribly good at it…

"We can make a wager then. If you win, I'll go out with you again."

"And if you win, you won't" Doumeki asked as he followed him out to the living room.

"Let's play," Watanuki said, tossing a remote at Doumeki. Player two, of course.

Doumeki caught it, and smirked - one of his few easily-read expressions.

"Grand Prix?" he asked, taking a seat on the floor next to Watanuki.

"One world at a time. Two out of three. Starting with the Rainbow Bridge," Watanuki decided.

They both fell off the road far too many times, but Watanuki less than Doumeki, giving him a substantial lead. Doumeki was annoyingly stoic as he played, while Watanuki started leaning forward and turning his body along with the controls, cursing each time he fell.

After a long while of pure frustration at the ridiculously stupid level (which Watanuki now regretted picking), Watanuki finally won, then jumped in the air and whooped.

"Alright, alright, you pick next. Only fair for the loser," Watanuki conceded as he sat down.

Doumeki picked an easier level, then turned to Watanuki with a fierce look in his eyes.

Watanuki glared right back, excited to be competing and determined to… win?

If he won, that would be two out of three. That would mean he wouldn't have to go out with Doumeki again.

He was again struck by the question of what exactly did he want from this Doumeki guy? And again he found himself without an answer and it ticked him off and he didn't know why he was getting so mad about it. He should probably figure it out though, so maybe he should go-

"Dammit! Blue shell - really?!"

With that, Doumeki passed him.

"Dammit dammit dammit dammit-" Watanuki cursed in quick succession as Doumeki sped ahead and kept his stupid lead until he won. "Lucky break! That's all!"

Now it was one-one, and the winner would dictate the course of their relationship.

Why the _hell_ did Watanuki think this was a good idea?

There was a tense moment as they both stared at the track selection screen, listening to the peppy music and making no moves.

What a stupid suggestion.

The dumbest suggestion Watanuki had ever come up with.

God, whatever. He'd already decided to make the bet, he'd follow through.

"I'm picking a random track. Let's go," he said flatly, trying to decide whether he wanted to win or lose.

As the timer counted down, Watanuki looked at Doumeki with a frown, and Doumeki returned it.

The night wasn't horrible. The date previous wasn't bad either. And that night with dinner, that wasn't the end of the world. Maybe a third (fourth?) date wouldn't be too bad. He never really went past three or four dates, but he still didn't know how he felt about the guy. This might at least give Watanuki a better idea on that, if nothing else.

But, but he was awful so why date him again? At four dates, wouldn't that be… a lot? Way too many.

The light went green and Watanuki realized just in time to face the screen again and take the lead, but he wasn't sure he wanted it.

Watanuki held his lead, but became more and more distressed at the fact. Doumeki, too, seemed displeased.

If Watanuki hadn't been in the middle of playing Mario Kart, he'd have probably laid down on the ground and groaned audibly for a full minute because he was just _that_ stupid.

As it were, he was in the middle of a race and he had to win!

Or lose!

Or just…

do…

something.

They reached the final lap, no trash-talk, nothing more than the occasional curse from Watanuki, and the finish line was in sight.

Watanuki could win this. He could win this and be free of Doumeki forever.

But then he'd be free of Doumeki forever.

At the last moment, Watanuki turned very sharply to the left, and off the road into a fence.

Doumeki passed the finish line first, winning the bet.

The game played music for Doumeki as the little cart went on a victory lap and Watanuki scowled at the screen as Doumeki set his remote down to look at him.

"Well, something is obviously defective, what the hell was that about?" Watanuki yelled, tossing his controller aside.

"You did that on purpose," Doumeki stated, sounding so sure of it, and Watanuki couldn't help but go red-faced, though he wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or anger at the (correct) accusation.

ooooooooooooooooo

Watanuki's face was red and contorted with anger.

"I did _not_! Don't go making things up about people! That is _rude_! God, as if I'd _want_ to lose. Now I have to go on another damn date with _you_!"

He scowled and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Doumeki pushed his remote back towards the tv. He'd been amused, at the obvious throw, but Watanuki's yelling was dampening his mood. Watanuki was extremely vocal and hyperbolic about his displeasure, but Doumeki had thought he'd figured out to not listen to much that Watanuki yelled about. But, still, he didn't have to be rude, even if he didn't want to go.

"You made the bet," he said, his voice flat. "And it's my turn to pick what we do."

Watanuki nodded once. "Yep. Next date is on you," he said, and Doumeki felt a snap of exasperation at Watanuki's back and forth. Now it was a date, and he didn't seem to have a problem with it. Okay. "Wanna go again? I bet I could beat you this time." Watanuki then said, and then paused and stuck his lips out like a blowfish. "No real bets this time though. Just the satisfaction of being better."

Doumeki agreed, and they played Mario Kart for a while longer, releasing the tension with much friendlier jabbing and competition. Doumeki felt a knot of excitement grow that they were going out again. Watanuki had thrown a race for it, and though he didn't know yet what they'd do, Doumeki was glad he'd get to see him again. Because, yes, Watanuki was a little spastic, and loud and sometimes mean, but he was also fun, and interesting and cute, and Doumeki wanted to get to know him better. He supposed that was as good a start as any.

When it got to be about nine o'clock, Doumeki held off starting a new race, and stretched forward, suddenly remembering he had early classes and a shift at noon.

"Good racing," he said, and Watanuki nodded.

"Damn right," Watanuki said. "You have an early class?" he then asked, looking at the time.

"Yeah," Doumeki sighed. "History. Way too easy to fall asleep in."

"And here I thought you were a history major."

"This one is the history of America in the 1800s. Nothing happens, just people crossing plains and lots of buffalo," Doumeki said. It had been the only one that fit with his credit requirements and schedule, and it was his least favorite time period he'd ever studied. At least, it was the way his teacher was teaching it.

"Ugh," Watanuki said, rolling his eyes. "Boring."

"If he'd go into Native American history, that'd be interesting. But he won't," Doumeki said. He thought his teacher was afraid of offending, and skimmed over it. Doumeki, personally, thought that was more offensive.

Watanuki scoffed. "You can bring dogs to class, but god forbid you talk about something interesting."

"Different class. That's Mythology of Asia. Which is cool." And much more relevant to his area of interest.

Watanuki perked up at that. "Oh! Really? They teach that sort of thing?"

Doumeki nodded. "Lots of reading, but that one is always interesting. And sometimes, there's dogs."

Watanuki was shaking his head, looking perturbed. "I just don't understand why you would bring a dog to class."

"It's too hot in the car?" Doumeki offered, as a guess.

"Do they not have a house…"

"It's also March." It wouldn't be too hot in the car, the weather had been mild lately, Doumeki pondered.

"What does the month have to do with whether or not someone can leave their dog at home?" Watanuki asked, turning a confused glare on him.  
Doumeki shrugged.

"Well, it wouldn't be too hot in the car," Doumeki explained. "I dunno why they wouldn't leave it at home."

"Maybe they live in their car," Watanuki decided, standing up suddenly, and then pointing dramatically at Doumeki still sitting on the floor. "You just admitted to early class! Go home! Go to bed! Don't be a dumbass and get out of my apartment!"

Doumeki huffed a little at his dramatics, and stood. He'd had fun, aside from that strange bet and the tension it caused. But it was past, and now they'd have another date after this. A third date. It made Doumeki feel like he hadn't screwed this up yet.

He looked at Watanuki, standing across from him, and suddenly, acutely realized that the second date seemed to have a reputation of a good night kiss, or something. Or was that the first date? They hadn't done it before, he'd just let Watanuki out of his car. Should they have?

And tonight, should they? Should they hug? A handshake seemed unbearably awkward. He didn't even know if Watanuki would welcome anything of the sort, but now that he'd thought of it… well, he _wanted_ to. Something at least.

Doumeki, before he could talk himself out of it, bent in and pressed his lips against Watanuki's cheek. He pulled back quickly, saying, "See you." Then he turned to the door, and began putting on his shoes, his face warm.

Watanuki didn't react audibly, and Doumeki didn't turn to see if he looked angry, but a peek showed him grumpily wiping off his cheek, face red as well.

"Go away," he humphed, waving his hand. Doumeki left, embarrassed, but feeling a little giddy at the same time.

* * *

This AU is spreading wider and farther, with a full cast of familiar and new characters, which is crazy and fun, and hopefully not too hard to follow. There are mentions again of Doumeki's roommates, and also a more complicated dating history than you might have expected from Watanuki. It all makes sense, I promise.

And if you're enjoying this story, please let us know what you think/if you have any suggestions or requests or criticisms/just want to say hi. Thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5: Lucky Charms and Muffins

Again, this whole fic is written in conjunction with the wonderful arisprite!

* * *

Himawari got home fairly late from her classes, one day in March. She didn't know why a Psychology class would schedule all the way to seven at night, but it was only one day a week and it was the only one that fit her schedule. It made for long Thursdays. She decided that a bowl of cereal for dinner didn't seem like a horrible idea. It wasn't her finest, but it wasn't terrible, and she was tired.

She changed into her pajamas and poured a bowl of off-brand Lucky Charms, then opened her fridge and found that she had no milk. With a frown, she decided to just mooch off her favorite neighbor.

It only seemed right to bring her bowl with her - then she and Watanuki could catch up. Himawari hadn't talked to him in a while, and they usually got together on one or the other's couch, and talked about life, dating and work or whatever else came to mind.

She didn't bother to change, and hummed to herself as she locked the door behind her and padded over two doors down the hall in her socks. Himawari knocked a few times in quick succession, and then once more for good measure, and then listened for the tell-tale yelp that said he'd be at the door in a moment.

He didn't disappoint.

Himawari heard him speak inside, and then come running over. He opened the door wide to her grinning sheepishly with a milk-less bowl of cereal held up like an offering.

"Hello, Watanuki!" she said brightly, and Watanuki smiled back at her.

"Himawari, hi! What brings you over with...cereal?"

Himawari frowned down at her bowl, and held it higher to show him. "I ran out of milk, but I'd already poured a bowl. Do you have any I could borrow?"

"Sure, come in!" he said

Himawari smiled, and went past him nonchalantly, before realizing that Watanuki had company.

"Doumeki?"

So it was. Doumeki, from the restaurant, who'd asked Watanuki out a couple weeks ago. He was standing in Watanuki's kitchen, mixing a bowl of what looked like batter of some sort. He lifted a hand, stopping his whisk and casually waving.

"Hey," he said, simply.

Himawari smiled at him, and then glanced back at Watanuki as he took a beat too long shutting the door - probably realizing that he'd invited her in while Doumeki was there.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt you two? I can just take some milk, and go…"

It was a bit surprising to see Doumeki here. She was glad to see that they were spending more time with each other, this was odd for Watanuki. He'd well and truly seemed to hate the guy, and though everyone still teased, Himawari never thought he'd even become friends with Doumeki. When he accepted the date, Himawari had been surprised, until Watanuki said shyly that he'd had a good time. But, she still didn't expect to find him here this late at night... making muffins?t

It was adorable, and Himawari was in full support.

Watanuki shut the door behind him, and turned to Himawari. "No, no no no, no, it's fine! You're always welcome over here, and you weren't interrupting _anything_, right Doumeki?"

Doumeki held up the bowl he was mixing. "Just muffins," he said.

Himawari wavered, really wanting to see if Doumeki really was over here for a date, or if it was some strange, completely platonic, visit to Watanuki's kitchen… to make muffins.

"Alright, if you're sure…"

"Absolutely sure," Watanuki said. "I was just telling Doumeki that muffins are- oh god, I need to check on them!"

Watanuki ran from the doorway to the kitchen, skirting around Himawari and opening the oven. Apparently he was satisfied, because he closed the oven door, and leaned against it.

"Ah. Anyways. Yes, you're fine, get some milk, sit down, talk to me, because this idiot hasn't said anything besides 'mm' in the past ten minutes."

Himawari giggled, rolling her eyes a little at Watanuki's dramatics. "I doubt that's true."

Watanuki's face went red at her comment, and she thought maybe she shouldn't have teased him, as she went to the fridge to find milk.

There was a moment of silence, as Himawari poured her milk and sat at the table, and then Doumeki of all people broke it.

"I didn't know you lived in this complex?" he said, just as Himawari had shoved a bite of cereal into her mouth. She nodded as she chewed, and swallowed quickly.

"Mhm, right down the hall!" she chirped, then took another bite of her cereal because she was far hungrier than she'd thought she was, and Watanuki's muffins smelled incredible, and it was making it worse.

Doumeki nodded back. "Ah, and you met Watanuki here?" he asked, a little awkwardly.

Himawari was still busy chewing, but Watanuki seemed to have noticed.

"Yes," Watanuki said, as he pulled the muffins out of the oven. "I met her when she moved here a few years back. Very good friend of mine."

Himawari nodded again, finally swallowing that bite that had, in retrospect, been far too big. "Oh, yes, Watanuki was very kind to me when I moved in. I think he made me dinner for a full week or so as I got settled in!"

"You took forever unpacking your kitchen utensils, and you liked the food," he pouted, before turning to pour the newly mixed batter into another tray of muffins. They must have been making two kinds, because while the muffins that had just come out looked like they were blueberry, these ones definitely had chocolate chips in them.

Himawari smiled, and leaned towards Doumeki's stool.

"That's true. I unpacked them last on purpose," she said, in a stage whisper.

Doumeki half smiled at her, looking amused.

"Did he make you pumpkin curry? It's good," Doumeki said to her, and Himawari gave an over exaggerated gasp.

"He didn't! Watanuki, tell me you have left-overs," she teased, and Watanuki went an adorable, mortified red.

"Oh, god, I should have offered that to you, you can't just have Lucky Charms for dinner! That's completely unfair!"

"Give me a muffin, and we'll call it good, alright, Watanuki?"

Watanuki's mouth tightened, in a displeased frown (most likely with himself, though it was really fine. She liked Lucky Charms!) and then put his fingers up.

"_Two_ muffins for you. And two to take home for breakfast," Watanuki agreed, and then slid the last tray of muffin batter into the oven. "And for you," he pointed to Doumeki with an angry look on his face that Himawari didn't believe for one second. "You only get two tonight, and one for breakfast. No more."

Himawari giggled as she took another bite. "You two are so funny," she said. It was...different to see Watanuki so passionate about someone, even if it was a bit of a mixed signal - poor Doumeki.

Watanuki slumped to the counter. "We are nooooot!" he whined, eyes scrunched shut.

Doumeki was smirking, watching Watanuki with a fond look on his face. He seemed to be relaxing, and Himawari was glad to see it. He'd been interested in Watanuki for so long, it had been obvious the day she'd introduced them, after weeks of him always ordering his food. She wasn't quite sure, looking back, that made her think that he was more than just an admirer of his food, but she was glad her instincts seemed to be correct once more, even though she didn't know Doumeki that well.

"I'll just come get one after lunch too," Doumeki said, compromising apparently.

Himawari raised her eyebrow, torn between surprise and delight. Watanuki didn't have a reply for him, and he just sort of stood there for a moment with his mouth open, looking between Himawari and Doumeki.

On another day, with another person on a date with Watanuki, Himawari would have stepped in. She'd done it before, leading the conversation away from Watanuki, as he tried to figure out a way to get rid of the person. Watanuki wasn't going quiet and uncomfortable the way he did in those moments. He seemed a bit apoplectic, but at least he was engaging. It really didn't seem like he wanted to get rid of Doumeki, so she decided to wait it out. After a long moment, while Doumeki reached over and picked up a hot muffin, unwrapping and eating it without asking, Watanuki managed to speak again.

"Only one, or so help me I will never make muffins again!" he nearly yelled, shaking a fist at the ceiling. "And I didn't say you could have one yet!"

Himawari giggled, musing out loud, while Watanuki continued ranting about gratitude.

"Oh, Doumeki, you have your work cut out for you, don't you?"

Doumeki heard her, and glanced over, lifting an eyebrow and smirking the tiniest bit in answer.

Later on, once the rest of the alloted muffins were handed out, and the three of them had chatted about Himawari's dating life, and Watanuki's recipe adventures, Doumeki shifted and glanced at the time.

"I have to go," Doumeki said, sighing a little. "Early presentation."

Watanuki actually looked a little deflated at that, but Himawari didn't mention it.

"Go home and go to bed," Watanuki scoffed instead. "I don't want to hear you whine about how bad your presentation went because I kept you up."

"_Last time_, you whined. All through your shift," Doumeki said, standing and throwing his bag over his shoulder, before moving over to the door. Himawari raised her eyebrow, because that had implied that there had been a _last time_, when they'd kept each other up too late.

Watanuki huffed, and then started.

"Oi! I said you could have one for breakfast tomorrow!" Watanuki called. "Are you refusing my cooking now?"

"Put them in a tupperware I brought back," Doumeki said, and Watanuki grumbled and bent under the counter to grab a square container. He put one of the muffins in, the blueberry one, and then looked at it for a moment before grabbing a chocolate chip one, and setting that in as well. He popped the lid on, and brought it over to Doumeki, frowning.

"Here." He shoved the box forward into Doumeki's hand, and Doumeki half smiled.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Fine. Go." Watanuki waved a hand to shoo him out. Doumeki smiled a tiny bit wider, waved to Himawari, and then left, closing the door behind him.

She'd been doing her very best to stay silent during the whole exchange, but she let out a little, surprised, giggle against her will. It was just so different. Watanuki had _never_ been like that, not with anyone else she'd seen him date, and especially if he knew they were interested in him. But, here he was with Doumeki…

Watanuki locked the latch on the door, and then heard Himawari giggle, turning to face her.

"What? Two muffins looked better in the tupperware; I'll limit the number he eats tomorrow to make up for it."

Himawari lowered her hand, still smiling.

"I was going to ask how it was going, but I guess I got my answer. You two are still seeing each other?"

Watanuki paused, a blush rising, as he looked vaguely panicked.

"M-more or less," he said, and then rushed back into the kitchen, picking up the discarded muffin wrappers, and dirty cookware.

Himawari stood up, and started to help him clean. "I'm not teasing you," she said, elbowing him a little as she put the messy batter bowl into the sink where he was starting the hot water. "If you're happy, I'm happy. I'm just surprised. It's a little bit of a first…"

Watanuki poured the dish soap in the water, and then stepped back, letting out a frustrated breath.

"I don't know. He's… he's annoying," he said, crossing his arms in front of him, and glaring at the door.

Himawari tilted her head. "A good annoying though?"

Watanuki shrugged. "I don't know! I just-! He's-!" He gave up and rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "I don't know what he is, but… I want to find out… I guess?"

"Well, I suppose that's as good a reason as any," Himawari said, smiling brightly. She wanted to ask 'why him' but judging by this conversation, Watanuki didn't yet have an answer. But he wanted to see where this would go, which was a big leap away from the way he would be after a few dates with other people. She'd hated to see Watanuki like that; on her couch with a bag of marshmallows, frustrated, bored, and disparaging himself because of it. When it hadn't happened this time around, after their first date a couple weeks ago, Himawari had just assumed it hadn't even gotten that far. She'd missed the fact that Watanuki had actually continued on with with one. She smiled brightly at him. "I'm happy for you."

Watanuki's face was red, and he looked embarrassed and both pleased and displeased.

"You have an adorable smile," he said, obviously shifting the subject. "And I'd offer you a marshmallow if you didn't hate them so much."

Himawari smiled wider, glad she'd found such a friend. "I'll take another muffin, if you're offering treats?"

"Oh, of course! Anything for you! I made far too many anyways - take some home with you!"

"Gladly," Himawari said, laughing. "Thanks, Watanuki!"


	6. Chapter 6: A Boring Movie

Doumeki was an annoying bastard, Watanuki was pretty sure.

The guy was always around (Watanuki allowed it), he continued asking him on dates (Watanuki accepted), and demanded food (that Watanuki gave freely), and it was damn annoying (not really).

It stopped becoming a you-pick-I-pick thing too. They'd just… go out. Like it was expected. Routine. An actual thing they did naturally. And to be honest… it _did_ feel natural. Spending time with Doumeki, talking to him, talking _at_ him, arguing, not arguing, doing nothing, etc etc. It was weird and comfortable and Watanuki Did Not Like It.

Probably. He _shouldn't_ like it. Never had before. And besides, Watanuki _hated_ this guy.

...Dammit, he didn't. But he was still so resistant to it all, which frustrated him more. It was an odd mix of emotions, because on the one hand he wanted to spend time with Doumeki, but on the other hand he was sick of being riled up by the jerk.

So Watanuki kept going with it, even though it was objectionable. Spent time with him and went on dates and invited him over. Hell, they were practically going steady at this point.

Which was ridiculous, of course. They certainly weren't dating. Not at all. They were just… something.

But what? Well now, that was the question. And a stupid question. They weren't friends, obviously, but if they were dating… then they'd be dating, of course. What did that entail though? Going out on dates, he supposed. Which they did. Often.

Rather often.

Far too often to be anything other than dating.

Were they… dating? Watanuki hadn't gone on dates with anyone in at least a year, and hadn't actually _dated_ anyone in far longer, and had decided not to, so… how did this end up happening?

Then again… it wasn't like anything was happening. They went on dates and did things and spent about as much time together as people who dated might potentially do, but… it wasn't like they did anything else. Doumeki had kissed him on the cheek once, but nothing since then. Now, Watanuki hadn't really ever been fond of kissing people. Not that he disliked it. It just never seemed to feel like anything. More something to do because the other person was doing it.

But whatever. This wasn't about _kissing_. This was about… something. Watanuki wasn't sure what. He was just… there. And so was Doumeki. They were both just there, and it was actually getting annoying.

Watanuki didn't know where they stood, relationship-wise, and wasn't sure where he wanted to stand, or even where Doumeki wanted to stand at this point.

And… for once, Watanuki sort of cared about it.

He found himself on this now-familiar train of thought one night as they sat on the couch, watching a particularly boring movie after a shift that was far too busy for both of them. It was uninteresting and unengaging and he was losing himself to annoying thoughts of the annoying guy sitting next to him.

And he was sick of it, so he decided to just get it over with.

"I don't like this movie at all," he said. It was the first thing that came to mind.

Doumeki turned to look at him, but Watanuki kept his eyes on the screen.

"We could watch something else," Doumeki offered.

Watanuki considered it, and tried to figure out how to segue this into his actual problem.

"I… want to know what happens though. You know, you get invested in something, and you just want to know what happens?" He paused there, frowning. "Maybe it'll be a good movie if I let it play out for once. Maybe I don't hate it. Maybe I care."

Doumeki turned back to the movie, also frowning.

"You're invested in this?" he asked.

"Maybe," Watanuki corrected slowly, decidedly not talking about the movie, but _obviously_ still talking about the movie. "I could be. I don't know. The movie… hasn't really done much, but it could."

There was silence as Doumeki glanced at him again.

"Are you still talking about the movie?" he finally asked.

"Of course," Watanuki insisted with a scoff, then rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know." With a sigh, he pulled his feet up on the couch and turned his body to face Doumeki straight-on, but couldn't think of any words to say that didn't start with insults, and that just seemed like maybe not the best way to start a real conversation. Honestly, maybe it wasn't the best conversation to have right then anyways? But he'd already started it.

Doumeki turned again to face him better, and lifted a brow before breaking the unsettling silence.

"Are… you okay?"

"You don't seem interested in the movie either," Watanuki said. "I'm not _sure_ I like it, but I think I don't _not_ like it and I want to keep watching it for some inane reason, and you're just sort of… there."

Doumeki turned more fully, bringing his leg up on the couch, and looking intently at Watanuki.

"By movie you mean…" Doumeki trailed off, and swallowed, leaving his sentence hanging. He had some sort of expression on his face. It was hard to read, but if Watanuki were to take a guess, he'd maybe label it as 'thinking.' Or 'being stupid and avoiding questions.' One or the other.

"By movie, I mean the movie. I think I want to watch it and see what happens. Do you?" he asked, impatient because the more time passed, the more invested and curious he became, though he wasn't sure what it was he was looking for one way or the other, and-

God, this was so frustrating.

Doumeki didn't respond. At least not verbally. Instead, after an unbearably long moment, he reached out, placing his hand on the side of Watanuki's face.

Watanuki felt a small shiver go through him - which was stupid - but before he could protest, Doumeki leaned forward and put his lips against Watanuki's. Gently, and with the barest pressure, but still. A kiss.

A kiss. Oh god, a _kiss_.

Watanuki felt his face go red as his stomach did an odd and completely uncalled-for flip, and then Doumeki pulled back.

"Yeah," he said, finally answering, and his hand was still on Watanuki's cheek, which was _not_ helping the whole situation.

Watanuki's eyes were wide and his pulse was a beat too fast and Doumeki was blushing slightly, which was actually funny because it was _Doumeki_ and-

Wait.

"Oh my god, that is not, that is not what I meant," Watanuki said, panicked at the thought that he might have… actually… not hated what just happened. But it was so quick that he couldn't _quite_ be sure one way or the other. He didn't like kissing or dating or anything like that, so he could have been imagining whatever okay and not-apathetic feeling he may or may not have had.

Doumeki had some sort of look on his face as he leaned back, but only barely, which was obviously not what Watanuki was going for right then. Not that he wanted him to lean forward! He just wanted him to go away (did he?).

"What? What is that look?" Watanuki asked suddenly. "You're, you're making a face."

"Can I do that again?" Doumeki asked, pushing his thumb along Watanuki's cheekbone.

Watanuki stumbled over his words for a moment.

Did he want Doumeki to do that again? Watanuki wasn't sure. No one had ever really asked Watanuki before. He didn't know what to say.

He supposed the question was… Did he enjoy that kiss? Really, that kiss hadn't been all that much, so there really wasn't anyway to tell if he wanted more or not.

"Fine," he decided, and closed his eyes tight in anticipation.

Doumeki tilted Watanuki's chin - probably to angle a bit better - then pressed his lips to Watanuki's again. It was quick and chaste and inexperienced, but…

Well.

Watanuki had kissed a few people in the past, one or two in particular. He remembered not being terribly fond of it. He did it though. He kissed and held hands because that's what you're supposed to do in a relationship, but he was just going through the motions. Never actually felt much of anything. It was just, lips touching. That was all. Lips that shouldn't touch, coming together in an odd display of a closeness he didn't feel.

But this time, here, on the couch, with Doumeki… it was different. It was like a little surge in his chest and a floaty feeling in his stomach that he hadn't ever felt previously. Like there was an emotion between his lips and Doumeki's, and when they touched, it came together to make something.

Which sounded ridiculous and felt weird and Watanuki wasn't sure if it was something he particularly enjoyed, but when Doumeki pulled back, Watanuki followed because that's where his lips were right then, so apparently he didn't _hate_ it, and didn't feel nothing.

But he only followed for a moment, then pulled back because this was _Doumeki_, whom he hated (liked?).

Doumeki was still blushing - ridiculous - and his lips quirked on the side - probably an attempt at a smile? - as he brushed his thumb over Watanuki's cheek one more time, then lowered his hand.

"Well fine then," Watanuki said, flustered but not letting that get the better of him! "Kissing. On the table."

He turned back to the movie, suppressing his blush (though he wasn't the only one), and was immediately annoyed at the screen.

"Oh god, no, I do hate this movie. And I mean the movie. I'm turning it off." He scrambled off the couch - the company was objectionable anyways - to get to the DVD player and put something else in. No more weird movie recommendations from coworkers.

"Sounds good," said Doumeki from the couch, and Watanuki had half a mind to dismiss the smug bastard right on the spot.

oooooooooooooooo

The next day, they were both scheduled at the same time, which happened a surprising amount lately. They arrived at the staff entrance door at almost the same time, and Doumeki gave him a little wave as Watanuki came closer, holding the door open for him.

"Oi," he greeted. Watanuki hadn't told him the time his shift started, or he would have given him a ride.

"That's not my name," Watanuki replied, walking quickly through the door. "I think my bike has a flat tire. What time are you off?"

Watanuki went into to the staff area, with Doumeki trailing after.

"I think I'm scheduled until eight," he said, moving over to check the schedule hanging on the wall. It had everyone's printed out, for the whole week. Since it was a Monday, they were new, so he also wanted to check what the rest of the week would look like.

Watanuki joined Doumeki at the schedule to inspect it. He frowned, humming.

"I might need a ride," he said, looking grumpy. "Apparently, you're the only one who gets off at eight with me. There's a bus I can take, but if I can save myself the cost…"

Watanuki always brought up rides, and asked him semi-politely, as if Doumeki didn't offer nearly every time they both got off. It was beginning to be a habit - one that Doumeki certainly didn't mind.

"Fine," Doumeki said. "Dinner after?"

Watanuki turned his face away, frowning at the floor. "I've gotta pay you for gas somehow," he said.

Doumeki opened a locker, and stuck his bag in, before reaching for Watanuki's.

"It's okay," Doumeki said

Watanuki pouted, letting Doumeki take the bag, and close the locker door. Watanuki had gotten fed up with his leaving off any sort of lock, and insisted on them sharing a week ago. Since then, Doumeki had been enjoying the habit.

"Equal trade. You do something, I do something. It's fair."

"I like driving you," Doumeki said. Watanuki breathed out, some sort of frustration running across his face, that Doumeki hadn't been expecting.

"Whatever," he said, leaning against the wall. Doumeki turned, and frowned at that.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"_Nothing_ is the matter. Why would you think something's the matter?"

Watanuki looked testy, and Doumeki wondered what had happened to upset him. Probably something that he'd done, but he had no idea what it could have been. He tended to upset Watanuki for some reason, though it didn't lessen the frequency of the times they spent together. Doumeki eased his own frown, and shrugged it off. Watanuki was just unfathomable sometimes - he was getting used to it.

Himawari passed them both on the way out to the restaurant, heading towards the staff room for a break, most likely. She smiled brightly at both of them.

"Hi, Watanuki, Doumeki! How are you both doing?"

Watanuki returned her smile, laughing a bit.

"Ah, Himawari! Fine. Fine, we're both fine," he said, a little too quickly to be the truth. "I have to start my shift. Sorry, Himawari, we'll talk later, okay?" With that, he ran off to his station.

Doumeki watched him go with a little frown, and then turned back to Himawari. She was watching where Watanuki had gone, seeming a little confused, and if Himawari was confused, who'd known him for years, Doumeki gave up hope of understanding.

"How's it going," Doumeki half asked, since he didn't want to be rude.

"Oh, I'm well," she said, turning back to Doumeki with a smile. "I was out late last night, so I'm a little tired. How was your night? You and Watanuki have a nice time?"

Doumeki blinked in surprise, not expecting her to know that. She wasn't gossiping though, he knew. After she'd accidentally crashed their date, she seemed to just assume that they were together in the evenings. It was often true.

"Uh, good," Doumeki answered, remembering his and Watanuki's conversation, and those kisses… he felt himself turn a bit red and hoped he was near enough to the warm kitchen to pass it off. "We watched a movie." Sort of.

"Oh?" Himawari said, looking interested. "What movie?"

"Uh," Doumeki didn't remember. It was boring, and then after that… well, he'd thought that Watanuki needed a little processing time, and he had as well, so they'd called it a night. "I don't remember the title. It was boring, though…. What did you do?"

Himawari's face shadowed a bit. "I went on a date. It was fun, but I don't think I'll go out with him again," she said.

"Oh?" Doumeki asked, but she shrugged and didn't elaborate. Doumeki then remembered that he still needed to clock in and actually start working, so he waved, and moved off, letting her take her break in peace.

oooooooooooooooo

The afternoon dragged on, despite it being busy (one of the worst kind of days, but at least it kept him occupied) but it slowed down enough that he didn't feel bad taking a quick water break.

He was only in the staff room for a moment before Doumeki showed up again, the stupid bastard.

"Phew," he said, leaning against the wall next to Watanuki. "Busy."

Watanuki nodded, and groaned. "I can't even tell you how many annoying 'special orders' I've had today. They're worse than you. Picky eaters. It's ridiculous." He sighed, then straightened up and put a fist in his palm. "But if I can't cater to them, then what sort of chef am I? I'll do everything in my power to make their food delicious and by the time I'm done here, Hitsuzen will be a five-star restaurant!" He paused. "At least on yelp."

Doumeki's lips quirked in that attempt of a smile he did sometimes. "Good luck with that," he said, then started leaning in, presumably to kiss him, based on the angle and expression and Watanuki was not having any of it.

Watanuki ducked down to avoid whatever kiss Doumeki was trying to give him, - though it had looked like he was only going for the cheek, but still! - and ran around behind him before popping back up.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded, looking around to see if anyone saw, though it seemed people hadn't been paying any attention up until he'd yelled.

Although, he wasn't entirely sure why he was so concerned. He had dated people before, and he'd held hands with them and they kissed him on the the cheek and sometimes even the lips - all in public - and Watanuki didn't say anything. But suddenly, Doumeki wants to kiss him, and Watanuki had been okay with it last night (had actually enjoyed it, damn that asshole), but in public… Watanuki didn't want to. Didn't want to be on display like that, he supposed. To have everyone look and see and know. Which… didn't make much sense, but Watanuki was just uncomfortable with it, and Doumeki would have to deal with it.

Doumeki froze, and was quiet a brief moment before speaking. "Sorry," he said. "That's not okay?"

"No," Watanuki told him decidedly, waving for everyone to get back to their damn jobs. "No, it's not. N- not here. In public. With everyone. Why- why would you, god, whatever!" He threw his hands in the air and got back to work, embarrassed at the whole debacle.

Why, why did Doumeki think it was okay to just, just kiss him like that at _work_? Sure, Watanuki _had_ said it was on the table, but not out in public! Now Watanuki was mortified and Doumeki probably thought Watanuki was mad at _him_ specifically, even though he was, but not, not like _that_, well maybe, but also he didn't wan-

"Watanuki?"

"Oh my god!" Watanuki yelled as he jumped in the air.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare you?" Himawari asked, taking a step back.

"Ahh, no, no, no, it's fine. I was just… cooking, is all," he said waving it off.

"Mm. I see," she said, leaning over to look at his unusually messy work station. "You okay?"

"I'm fine! Of course I'm fine."

"No one saw what Doumeki did, you know," she said with a slight frown.

"Wh- what?" Watanuki found himself red-faced and stammering in the most unpleasant way.

"Just me, but that's because I was looking for Doumeki specifically," she explained, setting Watanuki at ease, if only barely. "He had a table to clean."

"Idiot, slacking off," Watanuki scoffed.

Himawari laughed slightly. "Not really." She paused, probably waiting for Watanuki to explain, but he wasn't about to explain. "Are you mad at him?"

"Yes. Yes I am. It was uncalled for," he said petulantly.

"Maybe you should tell him then?" she suggested. "So he knows."

"Fine."

"Good," Himawari said. "You two are good together."

"We are nooooot," he complained as she walked away with a giggle.

The last of his shift was spent trying not to think, and vaguely succeeding because it ended up being far too busy to even try _to_ think. But the moment he was done, he remembered that he was riding home with Doumeki, and he'd mentioned dinner, and so they'd have to _talk_.

He cleaned his station quickly and efficiently - nothing less - and waited by the lockers with his and Doumeki's bags.

It wasn't long before Doumeki showed up, looking a bit more awkward than he usually did. Like he didn't know where to put his feet.

"Hey," he said. "Ready?"

"Yep," Watanuki said shortly, holding out Doumeki's bag for him to take.

Doumeki took it, and Watanuki led the way out the doors and to the bike rack. He kneeled down and began fiddling with his bike lock, trying to figure out what to say. They were alone out there, and there wasn't anyone else to hear the conversation and a car ride would just be awful if it was awkward so he just spat it out.

"Not in public," he said flatly. "That's all. Just… not in public."

There was a beat of silence before Doumeki responded with a simple, "Okay."

That was easy. Watanuki had expected a protest, to be honest.

"Oh," he said, finally getting the lock off and turning around to face Doumeki. "Okay."

Doumeki frowned, which set Watanuki slightly on-edge. Like Doumeki wasn't comfortable and maybe Watanuki should figure out a compromise or something.

"Whatever you're comfortable with," Doumeki said then, moving past him and to the car, beeping it open and holding the back seat door open for the bike,

Or maybe he really was fine. He was just going to… let Watanuki set the pace for this? No one had really done that before... it was. Well, it was different. Nice? Something.

"Alright then."

* * *

A/N: This chapter begins to make clearer some backstory for Watanuki's romantic history that may not be what anyone was expecting, including us. Not to reveal anything, but rest assured it will all make sense in the end.

Also, someone asked what's up with the marshmallows. Well. One time in the anime (I don't remember if it was in the manga too or no), Watanuki was talking to Himawari about how he dislikes marshmallows so much and goes on to describe the texture and she agrees and we started talking about him actually liking them, but he just says that for Himawari, and then it just... became a thing. Oops.

And again, reminder that this is written in conjunction with the fabulous arisprite whose stuff you should read!


	7. Chapter 7

Hello all!

This isn't actually an update, but I wanted to make sure anyone following the story was aware that I'm no longer updating it. I've decided to pull back from the internet quite a bit, and fanfiction falls under that umbrella. I'll still reply to messages if you send them, but I'm no longer writing or posting.

Now, don't worry too much, as this story in particular is actually continuing elsewhere! If you go to archive of our own, this story is part of its own series. arisprite will be handling all the updates and posting from there. If you want to keep with the story - which I'm sure you do because it's getting good - then I'd suggest you head over there.

If you want to keep it on though, then bombard her inbox with messages telling her to repost it under her. But don't tell her I sent you.

Anyways, it's been a great run, and you all were wonderful and so supportive and complimentary. You rock.


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